


It All Began With One Gunshot

by Wigled98



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Murder Mystery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slice of Life, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2020-04-23 08:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 65,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wigled98/pseuds/Wigled98
Summary: On their cast bonding trip before the school year, Dahyun and Sana had planned a romantic night. It had been months since their last kiss. That night on the beach would give them the privacy they were looking for to consummate their hidden relationship. All was going as planned until the two girls become witness to a murder in cold blood. Murder Mystery and slice of life





	1. The Outset

“It seems like every single one of these stories starts the same way…” Dahyun said while fiddling with her thumbs. She was in a dark room under a single lightbulb and facing a masculine police detective. She tried to catch her breathing before continuing on. She needed to make sure her mind was as clear if she wanted to be able to describe as clearly as possible, no matter how painful it was, what happened that night. 

Thinking back to that night made her arm hurt. She swallowed hard and let her right hand grasp her left bicep. With her index finger she traced the scar she got that night. “I woke up that morning and everything seemed so normal. Our theatre company was getting ready to go on our annual cast-bonding camping trip…” Dahyun dove right in and began to tell the detectives the story of the day that changed her and her friend’s lives. 

The day Dahyun was talking about began the way she said it did. She was asleep in bed and was woken up by the water running in the apartment’s bathroom. After blinking rapidly and opening her eyes widely, Dahyun rolled over and grabbed her phone from the night stand. The first thing she looked for was the time. Her clock read 9:42AM. 

“Oh come on!” Dahyun exclaimed before throwing her head back on to her pillow. 

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up lazy ass!” Chaeyoung, her roommate, said as she popped her head into the doorframe with a toothbrush hanging out of the corner of her mouth. They had been best friends for as long as Dahyun could remember and roommates since they started university. After deciding to room together on residence in their first year, they decided that they still liked each other enough to get an apartment together. 

“Leave me alone, my alarm didn’t go off.” Dahyun groaned while still staring at the ceiling. She snatched at her phone to see text messages from her other friends. 

Chaeyoung pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth and raised an eyebrow at her sleepy best friend. “Your alarm didn’t go off? So, your girlfriend hadn’t texted you good morning yet? It’s not nice to call your girlfriend an alarm you know.” Chaeyoung laughed as she strolled back to the bathroom and spit in the sink. 

Dahyun rolled her eyes before sliding over and sitting on the side of her bed. “She’s not my girlfriend,” she called back. “I don’t know what we are really. I guess you could say we’re just seeing each other…” Before she could say any more, Chaeyoung’s head popped back into the door frame and nodded sarcastically at Dahyun. The exhausted girl threw one of her slippers at Chaeyoung narrowly missing. Chaeyoung took off down the hallway cackling. 

Dahyun returned to her phone. She opened up to see the messages this time. There were several messages from her other cast mates, one of them being the girl that Chaeyoung had teased her about. As she opened the good morning message her face lit up and her cheeks felt warm. Even though their thing had been going on for months, she felt this way every morning when she opened up her good morning texts. 

She began to type out a response until she heard Chaeyoung’s voice echo from the kitchen, “Lets go! We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up. I’m not missing this trip for anything, it was the highlight of last year!”

Dahyun opened her mouth, ready to shoot a response before being stopped by her own thoughts. Chaeyoung was right. This trip was the highlight of the year and it set the tone for all of the hard work they were going to do that year in preparing for their show. Last year was the first year they could attend. It was during this trip that she got to know all of the cast members and got to know them well and developed some chemistry with one another. Luckily enough for her, her cast mates all formed one big group of friends. This year only needed nine actors. Having been in last year’s show with so much chemistry, their director couldn’t stop herself from keeping them together. “Right, I’m sorry! I’ll be ready in twenty minutes!” Dahyun ended up yelling back before grabbing a set of clothes and running into the bathroom. 

After getting ready, Dahyun slung her bag over her shoulder and ran to meet Chaeyoung at the door where they called a taxi in order to make sure they made it to campus on time to catch their bus. 

It was a mad dash from the trunk of the cab to the bus loading area. Both Dahyun and Chaeyoung huffed as they got to the side of the bus. Instantly they were greeted with a hug and a warm welcome. Jeongyeon, one of the seniors in the cast, waited with her hands on her hips. Being one of the oldest, she was always concerned about order and making sure that rehearsals were organized, and everyone kept themselves on track. “You guys were cutting it close! I was scared you weren’t going to make it!” Jeongyeon smiled as she helped the other girls load their belongings on to the bus. 

“Well, you have this one to thank for that!” Chaeyoung teased while poking Dahyun’s shoulder. 

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Dahyun responded with a bright smile. 

While Jeongyeon was mid-sentence, another girl popped up behind her and draped her arms around her neck. Nayeon was Jeongyeon’s girlfriend. Much like Nayeon, she was known for being the most senior member of the cast. The only difference between the two was that she was a lot more free-spirited and playful than her girlfriend. Not a rehearsal went by where Nayeon wasn’t goofing around with her castmates, telling jokes, and trying to bring all eyes on her. Without a doubt Jeongyeon was always there with a stern voice to whip her back into shape. No matter how they bickered at rehearsal, they always looked cute together. “You guys should get on the bus! Taeyeon is doing roll call.” Nayeon said in the sweetest voice possible.   
Jeongyeon, Nayeon, and Chaeyoung began to head for the entrance to the bus. Dahyun called out that she forgot her earphones in her bag and would jump on the bus as soon as she got them. She reached down into the bag and began to fumble through her things looking for her earphones. Then she felt it. The jolt of hands gripping her waist caused her to buck her head backwards almost hitting the top of the storage compartment. “Good morning cutie,” the angelic voice called out.   
Dahyun turned to see her. She was just as beautiful as ever. Sana shyly held her hands in front of her while smiling at Dahyun. Without hesitation her cheeks began to fire up and her hands get clammy. “Hey,” was all Dahyun managed to get out. “I’m uh, really looking forward to this trip with you.” Dahyun stuttered causing Sana to laugh. 

“Me too,” Sana replied with flushed cheeks. Dahyun reached out for a hug when before being halted by Sana hand. “Dahyun, as much as I want to hug you, I don’t want to risk anyone else finding out.”  
Dahyun bit her lip and nodded in response. Sana was right, they didn’t want to risk any one seeing them and start assuming. If being in a new relationship and the fact that they were cast mates wasn’t enough, Dahyun wasn’t out. Although she wasn’t out, she wasn’t in either. She only really told people about her preferences when it came up in conversation and this was among the times when it hadn’t come up in conversation.   
The two agreed to board the bus in order to prevent anyone from coming to look for them. Before parting ways, Sana reminded her about the discussion they had about that night prior to getting ready for the trip. In instant embarrassment, Dahyun nodded her head once again and boarded the bus. 

On the bus, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu sat together. They were the youngest in the cast and also the tightest group of friends. Dahyun had looked to the front of the bus. Without question Nayeon and Jeongyeon were sitting together nestled up to one another. Jeongyeon’s arm was around Nayeon’s neck holding a phone playing a movie and Nayeon was asleep on Jeongyeon’s shoulder.

To the left of her, Jihyo, Momo, and Taeyeon sat together. These three talked about the upcoming show and thought about how they might design the stage. Although she was the director, Taeyeon looked to her leading actress, Jihyo, to help with set design and learn some directing tips. With each idea for the set design the conversation got louder and louder with more enthusiasm.

Behind them, Mina was sitting with Sana. Mina was telling Sana one of her funny stories causing Sana to laugh. Her laugh was cute and her smile was radiant. Dahyun couldn’t pull her eyes off of the girl she had been seeing since the start of the Summer. After their first year, the only people to stay close to the campus over the Summer were Dahyun and Sana. Dahyun had began the lease over the Summer and managed to find a job that both covered rent and allowed her to save some cash. Sana just loved being in the city so much that she did everything she could in order to try to stay. 

Naturally, these two found each other. They spent a lot of time hanging out at each other’s apartments. They had movie nights with each other and shared meals very often. They spent so much time together that when they went out to eat they had been mistaken for a couple. Although they laughed, Dahyun knew from the beginning that there was something special about Sana. It just seemed that no matter what she did, Dahyun couldn’t take her eyes off of her. The way she adjusted her hair, the way her energy was passed on to everyone, the way she was able to make any situation funny, the way that her smile lit up a room. 

Dahyun could pinpoint the exact date and time that not only her feelings were announced, but they were reciprocated. They were having a movie night during one of the most intense storms of the Summer. They felt the building shake with each roar of thunder and crack of lightning. Even though the movie they were watching wasn’t a scary one, the weather made it so. In order to get through the fear, much to Dahyun’s content, they decided to huddle up with one another under the blanket on the couch. As they settled under the blanket, Sana’s arm naturally found its way around Dahyun and Dahyun pulled herself in close to Sana. She rested her head in the nook of her shoulder and let herself sit. Sana’s hand began to rub Dahyun’s shoulder and this prompted Dahyun to wrap her arms around Sana’s waist. Dahyun felt so safe to be sitting there with Sana. No matter how loud the thunder pounded, she felt protected by Sana. Their eyes met a couple times. Each time the tension between them grew faster and faster. Dahyun found herself innocently moistening her lips and Sana seemed to almost follow suit. The final time their eyes met they had both moistened their lips at the same time. This prompted both of the girls to let out a giggle before realizing what position they were in. Dahyun was the first, she looked from Sana’s eyes down to her lips and then back up to her eyes. Sana did the same. Dahyun remembered her heart beating out of her shirt. Although she knew she was attracted to women, she had never kissed a woman before. With their arms around each other, both girls closed their eyes and slowly leaned forward. Their lips pressed against one another for a mere second before Sana pulled away apologizing. That one second was all it took for Dahyun to be brought to another world. She didn’t know what that feeling was. The only thing she knew was that Sana made it feel amazing. She apologized saying that she read the situation the wrong way and didn’t want to make Dahyun uncomfortable. Dahyun tried her best to explain that she wanted it. It was never easy when two awkward people tried to confess their feelings to one another. That was their first, and only kiss. The rest of the Summer was full of cuddling and awkward conversations trying to understand what their relationship would look like. What came with this was trying to understand their need to hide their relationship from their cast mates. The majority of their time was spent talking about ways to do just that. Each of the girls were scared of overstepping. This meant they didn’t kiss, and they didn’t want to pressure the other to date them.

But that was all supposed to change that night. Dahyun and Sana had talked about using their free time to sneak away and be with one another under the stars. Dahyun knew she was excited that they would finally get the chance to kiss once again and she hoped that the kiss would feel the same way it did at the beginning of the Summer.

All of that thinking was enough to make the bus ride go by in the snap of a finger. The bus pulled through a wooded area and a wooden gate which led them to the main hub of the camp. The camp where Dahyun, Mina, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Nayeon, Sana, Momo, and Taeyeon’s lives would be changed forever.


	2. Two Girls and Romantic Tension

After arriving at the main house of the camp, the girls slowly made their way off the bus and gathered their bags. Dahyun couldn’t help but look up at the trees and watch how the sunlight broke through the leaves. She took in a deep breath and let herself be with the sounds of birds chirping and the waves blowing on the lake. One by one, each of the girls pulled out their phones and began taking pictures of the scene around them. While everyone was busy trying to get the perfect shot, Dahyun was busy ogling Sana. She was giggling while trying to get a selfie with Momo. 

“Caught out in la la land Dahyun? I wonder what it is that could leave you so star struck?” Chaeyoung teased while elbowing Dahyun in the side. Dahyun turned and quickly shushed her with a deep glare. Chaeyoung was the only person who had the privilege of knowing about Sana and Dahyun. Being her best friend made her privy to information no one else would get. It also didn’t help that the day Chaeyoung moved into the apartment she caught Sana in her pajamas making breakfast. Even though it was their little secret, Chaeyoung never passed up on the opportunity to tease Dahyun about it. 

“I’m just taking in the view.” Dahyun shot back with a stern look. Chaeyoung giggled as she turned back to the bus and started digging through the luggage to find her bag. 

The scene in front of the bus was rowdy. Everyone was trying to get all of the photos they could. Naturally, this came with a lot of teasing from the cast of the show and wild attempts to sabotage the pictures. At first, Jeongyeon tried to keep people in line and scolded everyone who got in the way of her pictures. Not being able to beat them, Jeongyeon decided to join them and joined in the photo chaos. A loud callout caught the attention of everyone there. Everyone looked back to see Taeyeon standing on the top step leading up to the main hub and dining hall of the camp. “I’m glad to see that everyone is enjoying their first minutes of this year’s cast bonding camping trip!” She yelled which prompted the girls to cheer in response. “Before we get the chance to break for lunch, I’ll give you your cabin assignments so you can drop off your things.” 

Cabin assignments. Dahyun bit her lip and swallowed hard. Although she was looking forward to this trip, this was the part she was the most nervous about. Dahyun and Sana had their plan to finally take the next step and let themselves be comfortable with one another instead of being clammy and nervous and she worried that going back to the same cabin at night would make everyone else ask questions. Taeyeon began to call out the people in each cabin. “In cabin number 112: Jihyo, Nayeon, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and…” Dahyun flinched and crossed her arms. “Tzuyu,” Taeyeon finished causing Dahyun to let out a sigh of relief. This left Momo, Mina, Jeongyeon, and Sana in the other cabin. Upon hearing her name, Sana looked over to Dahyun and raised her eyebrows. Dahyun got the message loud and clear. “Now, everyone take your things to your cabins and meet back here for lunch in fifteen minutes.” Taeyeon finished before stepping down from the steps and headed off in her direction. 

At the cabin, Dahyun and Chaeyoung shared a bunk bed, Jihyo and Tzuyu each got a bunk in a bunk bed, and Nayeon got the single bed. They all played rock, paper, scissors, for the single bed but Nayeon managed to come out on top. It also seemed like the right thing to do since she was the oldest. After getting settled and getting a head start on the practical jokes that come with a camping trip, the girls all made their way to lunch. 

Lunch was full of great conversation and emulated the bonding that she would set the tone for the rest of their trip. It was all about telling stories from the Summer, relishing in the memories of the amazing production they had put on last year. Jihyo told the story of how Momo forgot her lines on stage and Jeongyeon saved the day with some clever improvisation. Nayeon told the story of time she made Sana laugh so hard at rehearsal that she knocked over a set piece and almost broke half of the set. Everyone seemed to laugh at that story, but Dahyun was the only one to be laughing with Sana with flushed cheeks. Tzuyu told the story of her first rehearsal at camp last year with the cast. Everyone was nostalgic thinking back to their first starry night rehearsal. The starry night rehearsal was the annual tradition that made the bonding experience of camp what it was. Every night on the trip the cast got together on the beach, lit a bonfire, did their first read throughs of the play, and most importantly shared more experiences and created new memories with one another. That night would be no different. Even though the days were fun, every single one of the girls seemed to be waiting for their rehearsal under the stars. The stories went on and on until they ran out of time to tell any more. Dahyun was holding her sides as she put her dishes away and rejoined the group at the door and ran out to start their packed day. 

Their first activity was a nature hike. Each of the girls broke off into pairs, Nayeon and Jeongyeon without a doubt, Momo and Mina, and Jihyo and Taeyeon. Before Dahyun got the chance, Chaeyoung linked arms with Tzuyu and stuck her tongue out at Dahyun knowing she was leaving her with Sana. The two remaining girls both swallowed hard as they paired up and followed the group onto the trail. The hike was painfully pleasant for Dahyun, being so close to her ‘not quite girlfriend’ and not even being able to hold her hand was hard enough but being able to get out of the city for a while and just enjoy nature was itself amazing. As they passed through the winding trails, Dahyun caught the occasional look from Chaeyoung. After some non-verbal cues and gestures, Chaeyoung let out her signature laugh and kept her eyes forward. Sana turned to Dahyun and giggled into her shoulder. Dahyun nervously chuckled and felt her entire face heat up. 

The end of the trail led them to their first physical activity of the trip. In front of the 10 girls stood a giant rock-climbing wall. The director of the camp stood in front of the group and gave out instructions. “Welcome to rock bottom everyone! With your partner, you have to get to the top of the tower. The only way to get out of rock bottom, is to make sure everyone makes it to the top.” The director began to pace back and forth in front of the group with her arms behind her back like a drill sergeant. “To start you’ll put your harnesses on, then your partner will boost you onto the wall and spot you for the first few steps. Any questions?” Seeing as there were none, she dismissed the groups to gear up. 

After getting all their gear on, the girls situated themselves on their section of the rock climbing wall. Dahyun suggested that Sana go first. As they approached the wall, Sana took her first couple of steps and reached upwards. Following instructions, Dahyun followed up behind her. As Sana began climbing, Dahyun placed her hands around her waist. This was the closest they had been since Chaeyoung moved into the apartment. Her hands were trembling while trying to hold Sana up. Without a doubt Sana knew about her nerves. She twitched and squirmed with each abrupt shake Dahyun’s arms produced. Very slowly, Sana turned her head over her shoulder and smirked at Dahyun. “We can’t be this nervous forever you know. Who knows, maybe after tonight…” Sana trailed off. Dahyun couldn’t even hear the rest of the sentence. She swallowed hard and nodded her head hoping she gave the right response. Judging by Sana’s beaming smile, she must have done something right. Dahyun gave her one last boost before sending Sana on her way up the wall. After that, she felt like the whole world had her eyes on her. Luckily for her, the only person who had their eyes on her was Sana looking back off of the wall. She joined in cheering on her cast mates as they slowly made their way out of rock bottom.

Not after long, Dahyun got the opportunity to strap in. This time it was the director of the camp who went around and helped the rest of the group get started on the wall. Luckily, the director was a woman. That made Dahyun feel a little more comfortable having a stranger grab her and more or less lift her on to the wall. She made her way up with ease. Even though she was quite short, her nimble body allowed her to stretch and maneuver herself to reach the different stepping stones. Chaeyoung on the other hand, was not so lucky. By the time Dahyun made it to the top, Chaeyoung was only about half way. In this case, her height left her at a disadvantage. “Come on slowpoke! We’re all waiting for you up here!” Dahyun called down chuckling. After all the teasing she had since that morning Chaeyoung moved in, she was happy to finally have some ammunition to shoot back with. 

The rest of the day dragged on. Moving from one activity to the next, the girls got dinner, and headed out for the activity they had been waiting for. After their busy day they were all exhausted, but not too exhausted to set a fire in the pit and gather around with their scripts in hand. The fire was warm and crackling under the starry night. Taeyeon handed out the scripts to everyone. She sat down beside Jihyo and let the rehearsal begin. It started the same place every rehearsal process did, page one. They began reading through the play line by line. Occasionally taking a pause when Taeyeon wanted to try a line a new way or with a different inflection behind the delivery. When constantly being asked to try again, Momo put on her signature pout causing everyone to erupt in laughter. Dahyun had an out of body moment. Being there with her cast mates and best friends under the stars seemed so surreal. Even though she had done it last year with almost the exact same group of people, it felt amazing to be able to do it all again.  
“Dahyun, unless you want someone to take your role, I suggest you be the one to say the lines for it.” Dahyun’s grin was brought to a halt when Jeongyeon’s firm voice brought her back to reality.

“Jeongyeon,” she whined, “I’m just getting into character why are you calling on me like that” she pouted with a quivering lip which only fueled the fire of laughter. Momo then pinched Dahyun’s cheeks and shook them prompting even more laughter. Even the serious Jeongyeon couldn’t help but fall out of her chair holding her sides. Before long, Dahyun managed to get her line out and allow the rehearsal to continue. 

After about another half hour of reading, the rehearsal was finished. After an emotional finale the girls were holding their chests and let a painful smile break their face. They all applauded one another for not only completing their first official rehearsal, but their first day of the camp. The director stood up from her seat and wiped a tear with a smile on her face, “That was amazing. I knew I was doing something right when I casted each one of you.” She began to link hands with the girls. Each one followed suit until they made all had linked hands with one another. “Theatre is a special place for us. You all had the chemistry from last year but that goes to show how these shows make us a family. We laugh together, we share things together, and we cry together. In one day we’ve managed to do every single one of those things. In theatre, we come together as one.” She began pointing at the girls seated, “your struggles become her struggles, and yours become hers. It keeps following that cycle until we tackle these struggles together as a team. That’s what this is all about, this is what theatre is all about.” There was no longer a dry eye in the audience. Dahyun turned and pulled Chaeyoung in for a tight hug. Their tears dripped on each other’s shoulders. Dahyun looked up to see Sana hugging Mina. Their teary eyes met and Dahyun couldn’t feel any happier. Sana simply nodded her head acknowledging Dahyun and that was enough to make her heart thump against her chest. “And with that, I will leave you with your family. I’m going to need some shut-eye after today. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow!” Taeyeon didn’t make it five steps after her closing before being tackled by the girls with hugs. After their hug, she retired for the night and left the girls around the fire.  
The rest of the night felt like one long continuation of the day they had been happening. It was full of jokes and laughter. Dahyun took the advantage of Chaeyoung not being able to say anything about Sana and teased her about the rock wall. Nayeon called out Jeongyeon for trying to be the police despite being on a vacation, Momo called out Mina for being too quiet, and Jihyo pressured Tzuyu for performance during rehearsal. Throughout this time, Dahyun and Sana’s innocent eyes met on several occasions knowing that their time to be alone was coming soon. Dahyun was both nervous and excited. She was excited that she would finally get the opportunity to kiss Sana again without feeling awkward about asking, and she was excited to spend it with Sana, but she was nervous because she was with Sana. She didn’t want to screw up their first kiss in months. Even though Sana stayed at the apartment often, their time together was just a lot of cuddling and nothing else. She didn’t want to be terrible and scare Sana off. Knowing she had time, Dahyun let out a deep breath and brought her mind space back to the story Nayeon was trying to get through. 

One by one the girls began to yawn and head back to their cabins. Knowing how nervous Dahyun was, Chaeyoung fought through every single yawn in order to be the only person left with Dahyun and Sana in order to keep the other cast members from looking too deep into it. When it was her time, Sana hugged Chaeyoung thanking her and sending her off on her way. Suddenly, Dahyun and Sana were finally alone. 

The sound of the waves blowing up onto the beach, the crackle of the fire, and her heart thumping against her chest flooded Dahyun’s ears. She couldn’t believe this was finally happening. They had been waiting for this moment since they started seeing each other. Sana sat in front of Dahyun, straddling the bench to face her. Sana reached for her hand and began to trace her thumb over Dahyun’s. They smiled at each other and looked away. Dahyun’s entire body heated up at the touch.

“I never thought this would actually happen,” Sana sighed while sliding closer to Dahyun. “This moment always felt like it was getting farther and farther away.” Her hand drifted from Dahyun’s and began to creep up her forearm flaring every nerve she traced over.  
“I’m just glad its finally happening. Its been hard to hide it, especially when you look so pretty all the time” Dahyun tried to hide her cringe. She knew she was bad at things like this, but she wanted to tell Sana the everything that she meant to her. To hide her inexperience, she mirrored Sana’s actions by tracing her fingers up Sana’s forearms. Each movement was sharp and reluctant. She worried that she would scare her crush away. She was utterly lost in the moment, she had never dated anyone before Sana and hoped that it would always be like this and wanted to do anything to keep it that way.

“You don’t have to try so hard y’know. I already like you” Sana giggled while trying to reassure Dahyun. Dahyun nervously laughed with Sana as they sat under stars. Their conversation turned to silence once again. Dahyun had no idea what to do from here. She knew that they were both reluctant to be the one to make the first move. 

Their first kiss was something in the heat of the moment, not something that could be planned. Since then it seemed like there were tons of opportunities to steal a kiss. No matter how badly she wanted to, she never did in fear of overstepping. But tonight was one of those in the heat of the moment situations. She was sitting beside a beautiful girl, hand in hand, under the stars, with the thrill of what she perceived as a forbidden love. Her eyes met Sana’s one more time. She felt herself unconsciously moisten her lips before swallowing hard. She bit the corner of her lip trying to hide her anticipation. She saw Sana doing the same. Dahyun looked at her eyes, then down at her lips. She looked back up again, then down again. With each passing glance her desire welled up in her stomach causing it to turn over. Dahyun realized that she had stopped breathing. She looked to Sana to see the same thing had happened. At this point, Dahyun realized that the only way this was going to happen was if she had to be the one to make it happen. Dahyun swallowed hard, and with a burst of confidence, closed her eyes and leaned towards Sana. 

She would have never believed in a million years that she would ever do something like this. With her friends she was an extrovert by nature. She would be the first person to crack a joke and make herself look silly, but when it came to the idea of romance she clammed up and retreated to a shell that no one knew she had. But in times of desperation, and longing for a kiss was an act of desperation, Dahyun found the strength that all amounted to this one, long anticipated moment. An abrupt halt. It was something soft, but it didn’t have the same feel as the kiss they had shared in the Summer. Dahyun opened her eyes and Sana’s bright smile and finger placed against her lips.

“We’ve waited so long for this, no need to jump right into it.” Sana smiled at Dahyun. Dahyun’s stomach turned and her chest tightened. Not only had she wanted this, she used every ounce of her strength to make the move.  
“I just want to kiss you so badly” Dahyun said with a confidence that surprised herself. 

“I want to kiss you too, but we’ve only been here for five minutes. We don’t have to rush it” Sana smiled reassuringly at Dahyun. Five minutes. That’s all they had been there. It felt like an hour had gone by. Dahyun was so caught up in the moment, in the scene, in her feelings, in Sana, that she lost track of time. 

“Right” Dahyun squeaked. “I’m just so nervous.” Sana didn’t say another word. Instead she pulled Dahyun in close and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Without thinking, Dahyun nestled her head into Sana’s shoulder the same way she had done time and time before. With one hand, Sana was rubbing Dahyun’s shoulder, and with the other she was holding on to Dahyun closely. It was safe, it was warm, it was Sana. 

This time they had actually been sitting together for a half hour. They talked about the day they had, laughed at the stories, and talked about what the next few days had to offer all in the comfort of each other’s arms. Despite being wrapped up by Sana, Dahyun’s arms jittered and twitched at the slightest of Sana’s movements. Dahyun continuously shifted her body in an attempt to put herself in a comfortable position and to try not to disturb Sana. 

“Want to go for a walk?” Sana asked candidly. “There’s a really nice trail we can check out.” Although she was hiding it well, Dahyun knew that Sana had sensed her discomfort and suggested something new. That was one thing about Sana that Dahyun loved. Despite knowing her quirks, she never made Dahyun feel bad about her reactions to situations and knew exactly what to say. Dahyun simply nodded in response prompting Sana to lead Dahyun by the hand to head to the trail. 

The trail was quiet and quaint. It was well suited for the two. With each step there was crinkling under their shoes and the sounds of wildlife. As they made their way down the trail and came closer to looping back to the beach, Dahyun had felt comfortable where she was. She felt comfortable walking down the trail, and she felt comfortable walking with Sana. Dahyun returned to her normal self. She was back to cracking light hearted jokes causing Sana to laugh. She felt like this was the perfect date that never was. The two girls stumbled upon a large rock that seemed out of place. Dahyun ran over and hopped on top of it. 

“Get down from there! If you slip then you’re going to get all muddy. The questions you get will be never ending” Sana beckoned at Dahyun. 

“What? Are you worried about me or something?” Dahyun teased back. 

“I’m worried about us,” Sana shot back. “So that’s you by extension.” Dahyun was shocked by the answer. Sana had addressed a concern for them, the two of them, as a couple. This was taboo, but to Sana it seemed very clear what their relationship was. Not wanting to make her worry, Dahyun slid down the rock and struck a pose against it. 

“How does this look” Dahyun said seductively while licking her lips. 

“Sexy,” Sana licked her lips as she placed her hands on either side of Dahyun and brought her body in close. 

“You think so?” Dahyun swallowed hard as Sana slowly pressed her body against Dahyun’s. Their lips were inches apart. With one hand, Sana cupped the side of Dahyun’s face and looked into Dahyun’s eyes. At this point Dahyun wasn’t nervous anymore. She just wanted this to happen. She closed her eyes, puckered her lips, and waited for Sana’s. 

This time, there was nothing. Not even the touch of a finger against her lips. She looked up at Sana to see her staring around the rock with her eyes narrowed. Dahyun let out a deep sigh. At this point she wasn’t sure if Sana was just teasing her for the sake of it. 

“This isn’t funny you know,” Dahyun groaned while standing up straight. Sana didn’t respond and instead kept her focus forward. She seemed like she was almost in another world. Sana bit her lip. Dahyun began to wonder. Did she make Sana uncomfortable? Did she scare her away? Did she ruin yet another shot at stealing a kiss from this beautiful girl? There was still nothing. Nothing but a blank stare off into the distance. 

“Can you say something please? You’re really starting to freak me out” Dahyun breathed. She felt the air escape from her chest. 

“Don’t you hear that?” Sana asked. She turned to Dahyun with fear in her eyes. Dahyun relaxed herself and felt the tension leave her head and the blood drain from her ears. A cold wind blew against her cheeks as she heard it. It chilled her to the bone. Now she knew why Sana’s mind had gone to another world. That aggressive shouting back and forth was enough to freeze anyone in time. Despite the fear inducing qualities, this conversation was alluring. Sana narrowed her eyebrows at Dahyun and gestured om the direction of the voices with her head. With their fingers laced between one another, Sana led Dahyun through the brush. With each step the voices got louder and a little clearer. 

The two settled in the bushes right behind the beach. They sat in silence as the argument in front of them raged on. Trying to see through the foliage, they were only able to make out two figures. 

“I had no idea!” The woman’s voice called out. “We can work this out, no one has to know!” The voice was panicked. Dahyun could hear the rapid gasps for air in between phrases. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t make it out because of her short breaths. 

“Everything was too close, you were too close. Almost threw it all away.” The man calmed down. He let each word roll off of his tongue. 

“I didn’t really know what was going on! I still don’t! I can’t say anything!” The woman began to cry. Sana and Dahyun looked at each other. They let out a deep exhale. They hadn’t taken a breath that entire time. Dahyun felt Sana’s hand close around hers. Her stomach was turning over. She knew something wasn’t right. Something bad was happening here. She felt the urge to run away. Her legs were paralyzed. They both turned back to the scene in front of them.

“Everything was going fine until you, and everyone else started asking questions. Just one more liability, and one more loose end who can tell the world about the things we shouldn’t have been doing. Wouldn’t want anyone to know that would we?” He finished. The woman cried even more. The sound of a click filled the silence. Dahyun and Sana both chilled at the sound. The two leaned forwards to see what was going on. Dahyun’s heart was thumping in her ears once again. She wasn’t sure how everything led to this. One minute she was about to kiss the most beautiful girl for the second time, and the next she was crouching in a bush watching the terrifying scene play out in front of her.

The she heard it. Her eyes shot open and her whole body trembled. She watched as the woman on the other side of the bush folded and collapsed after the bang brought her stomach to her throat. Her nails dug into her palms and the only thing that managed to escape her was a gasp. In one quick flash she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. Dahyun looked over her shoulder and her eyes met Sana’s drained face. Her lip was quivering and her free hand was holding her stomach. Her eyes were watering. Without fail Dahyun began to do the same. Her tears dripped from her eyes and fell over Sana’s hand. She was in disbelief. She couldn’t talk, but if she could, there was no way she would’ve been able to put into words what she had just seen. There she was crouched in a bush, now witness to a murder. 

Sana’s eyes turned from Dahyun and back towards the beach. Her eyes shot open wide and she began to shake her head aggressively. Dahyun turned and looked back. Now the horror in front of her was looking at her direction. Without a doubt, Dahyun knew that Sana’s sudden hand movement knocked the brush making noise. The man trudged two steps forward, and raised his gun. Now Dahyun’s head was shaking and her eyes poured tears. She silently whimpered into Sana’s hand. She thought back to her friends. How she never got the chance to say bye to the people in her life. Now she was staring down the barrel of a gun and her life flashed before her eyes. The man took one more step forward before planting himself in the sand. Dahyun glanced back at a silently sobbing Sana. She felt guilty in this moment. She regretted that she never told Sana how much she actually meant to her, regretted not asking her out and keeping whatever they had hidden, regretted not kissing her. As the last thought escaped her head, she heard it.

Bang.


	3. Life and Death

The question of life was still unanswered. Everything leading up to this moment to have it end like this. All without the opportunity to say goodbye. To Chaeyoung, her castmates, Taeyeon, her parents. But she knew she got to spend her last moments with Sana. She had made the last few months the most exhilarating. Gave her the thrill of a secret love affair and the rush of one passionate kiss. 

The warm stream trickling down her arm reminded her of her own mortality. She opened her eyes to a blur. She regained her senses and became aware of the world around her. She saw the figure in front of her still planted on the beach. A screaming pain was burning her left arm. She looked down to see a hole in her bicep and blood pouring down her forearm. Tears welled up in her eyes as the pain spiked. She let out a whine as she came to the realization that she had gotten shot. 

She felt the hand over her lips grip tighter as the whimper escaped her throat. She looked up to see Sana’s terrified eyes looking past her. Dahyun knew without a doubt that Sana saw the wound in her arm. Dahyun felt Sana pull her closer to keep her from moving. The figure raised the gun once again and pointed into the bushes. Dahyun sat waiting for the end. 

Their saving grace. In the distance there was shouting about the gunshot. It wasn’t completely audible but it was enough to scare the shooter away. He took off running down the beach. The frightened girls watched as four more figures ran across the beach in the direction of the shooter. 

Without hesitation, Sana helped Dahyun to her feet. With all of the pain in her arm, Dahyun felt weak. If it wasn’t for Sana, she wouldn’t have been able to stand. Dahyun felt Sana shaking as they stood there. Sana was quickly looking from side to side. It looked like she was trying to decide on what to do. 

In an instant, Sana’s head snapped to the beach. Without saying a word she grabbed Dahyun by the hand and led her out of the brush and into the open. With all of her energy and attention focused into the pain into managing the pain in her arm, she didn’t question what Sana was doing. As they broke the leaves, Sana checked her surroundings before breaking out into a full sprint down the beach. With a boathouse coming into her view, Sana dragged Dahyun behind her with her eyes set on what she hoped was their safe haven. 

Sana was the first to poke her head into the building. Empty. The only thing that accompanied them was the sounds of creaky floorboards under the girls’ steps. Sana pushed Dahyun into a chair and instantly turned her back and started rummaging through the cupboards and shelves.

“What are you doing?” Dahyun coughed, breaking the silence. She barely got the words out. She was fighting the pain in her arm and the fact that she was starting to feel light headed. Every movie she’d ever seen led her to believe that she was losing blood, and her motor functions. 

“There’s gotta be a first aid kit around here somewhere. If we don’t clean that wound now its going to get infected,” Sana replied frantically while sorting through the last shelf. She was in a frenzy. Throwing things off of the shelf looking for anything that could help Dahyun. 

Her light headedness began to get to her. Once again she began questioning her own mortality. Each time she blinked her eyes she worried that they wouldn’t open again. Her vision began to blur out. Everything in front of her began to spin and fade out. She could feel her head spinning from side to side, but she didn’t feel strong enough to stop. The tried raising her trembling hand in front of her face. The only thing she could make out was Sana’s head rushing over to her. 

“Dahyun stay with me!” Sana shouted as she lightly tapped Dahyun’s cheek. “You’re okay, I have the first aid, we’re going to patch you up.” Sana’s voice was shaky. The worry that Dahyun wouldn’t make it was clear through her trembling hands. Sana threw open the first aid kit and went straight for the anti-septic. Without warning, Sana doused the wound. 

The pain shocked Dahyun back to life. She shrieked out in pain. Her vision was back and she could feel everything, a little too much. She even felt the rag that Sana Shoved into her mouth. Dahyun managed to whine through the rag signaling her discomfort. Without missing a beat Sana knew exactly what she was trying to say. 

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want anyone to…” Sana’s sentence was cut short. Dahyun heard it too. The girls’ heads whipped to the front door. The floorboards outside the store stopped creaking at an abrupt halt. The girls held their breath and stared at the door with wide eyes. The creaking began again. Each sound seemed like a hesitant step moving closer to the door. Their stomachs rose to their throats. They were worried that beyond the door was the man who already fired two shots, and was ready to shoot another. 

Surely, whoever was on the other side of that door heard Dahyun’s scream. The girls froze as they saw the doorknob begin to turn. Each spring in the doorknob was like one short breath. Sana slowly rose to her feet and stood in front of Dahyun. Dahyun looked onto the girl who caught her heart. She couldn’t take her mind away from all of the things that Sana did for her.

Then they heard it. A shout in the distance. As soon as the shout sounded, the door knob sprung loose. 

“You think you found him? I’m coming!” The voice behind the door shouted. 

Sana let out a sigh of relief. She turned at smiled at Dahyun. The way her cheeks puffed when she smiled and her eyes glistened was enough for Dahyun to smile back through the pain. That was the first time the two had smiled since they stepped on the beach. Dahyun was finally able to get a grasp on what was happening. As Sana applied the adhesive stitches, her wound closed. At first attempt to stand, Dahyun stumbled and fell into Sana’s arms. It felt warm, it felt comfortable, almost like home. She couldn’t make sense of everything that happened. Sitting on the beach with her beautiful ‘not-girlfriend,’ hiding in the bush, witness to a murder, shot in the arm, and now she waited in a boathouse.

“That was really close. Just rest here until you can walk again.” Sana sighed while crouching next to Dahyun. She jumped as Sana rested her hand on her knee. 

“Should we even leave?” Dahyun asked. She feared that by stepping out of the door, she would be at an added risk of coming face to face with the man who gave her that flesh wound. 

“It should be safe now.” Sana replied, now holding Dahyun’s hand. “It sounded like they found him anyways. All that’s left is to sneak back to the cabins” Sana concluded and helped Dahyun to her feet. 

“Shouldn’t we go to the police?” Dahyun asked as she rested her un-injured side against the wall beside the door. She wasn’t sure if the police were already there or on their way. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Without hesitation Sana turned towards Dahyun and began shaking her head. 

“We should not!” Sana stuttered.

“Why not? We saw-“

“We don’t know what we saw.” The look on Sana’s face was stern. Despite everything they had to deal with that entire night, this was the most serious Dahyun had seen Sana. “For all we know he could have thought we were a bear and fired as a warning shot. He ran away right after didn’t he?” Sana asked with a cocked eyebrow. Dahyun was a little fuzzy on the details, but she was certain about what she had seen that night. 

“What about the first shot?” Dahyun tried to argue, hoping Sana would return to her side. 

“Dahyun, if there was something to be worried about, they’ll have taken care of it. I’m sure it was nothing.” Sana stated. By the tone of her voice, she made it clear that she was done talking about this. As much as Dahyun wanted to push back, she didn’t want to make her ‘not-girlfriend’ angry the same. 

“How are we supposed to hide this from everyone?” Dahyun asked while gesturing to her injured arm with a hole in the sleeve. If they weren’t going to talk about what they both saw that night, they needed to find a way to cover up Dahyun’s injury. With a curious look on her face, Sana stepped in front of her and traced her fingers over the triaged wound. Dahyun winced from the slight jabbing pain. Sana bit the corner of her lip and looked up at the ceiling before raising her eyebrow and began to removing her hoodie. “Sana, I don’t think this is the time for that…” Dahyun swallowed hard as Sana stood in front of her wearing a tank top and shorts. 

“Don’t flatter yourself. I know it might make you feel good, but I am sure as hell not in the mood.” Sana teased while handing Dahyun the sweater. 

“I’m confused…” Dahyun stuttered while finding her eyes trace up and down Sana’s body. Sana raised Dahyun’s chin to make eye contact.

“Put. It. On.” Sana paused after every word. In realization, Dahyun sighed and raised the sweater over her head. It smelled just like Sana. Like all those nights they spent cuddled under the blankets. The aroma took her back to those nights and somehow settled her down. It felt as if she was being hugged by Sana non-stop. “If anyone asks, you got cold, and I gave you my sweater before heading back to the cabin. How does that sound?” Dahyun nodded in response. Sana helped Dahyun out the door before they headed back for their cabins. 

Dahyun slowly opened the door. With the lights off she tiptoed her way inside. Three steps from her bed, the lights flashed, blinding her. She winced at the brightness of the light and felt her back slam against the wall. 

“Where have you been?” Jihyo growled with her hands on Dahyun’s shoulders. In all of the years that she’d known Jihyo, Dahyun had never seen her this angry. Her lips were pursed, she was breathing hard, and her eyes were burrowing through Dahyun’s. 

Since they all started acting together, people naturally gravitated towards Jihyo. She was their voice of reason, their shoulder to cry on. She was like another Taeyeon, except she was a lot closer in age. She had a cool head no matter what. Dahyun thought back to the times Nayeon and Jeongyeon had been fighting. Jihyo was the middle man. She heard both sides of the story and all of the emotions that came with it. No matter what, she never broke. Not even the time Nayeon yelled at her for trying to tell her that she may have been wrong and suggested apologizing. She never faultered. 

She wasn’t just good at settling disputes. She was also there for Mina when her grandmother died. Mina’s un-extinguishable sunshine went out, and there wasn’t a spark in sight that would re-kindle the flame. That was until Jihyo spent an entire weekend with Mina before convincing her to finally leave her place. By the time Jihyo was done with her, no one knew how she did it, she’s just Jihyo. 

So with Jihyo glaring at her, Dahyun was both shocked and impressed. Shocked that Jihyo could actually be upset, and impressed with the level of force she could be upset with. 

“I’ve been worried sick!” Jihyo raised her voice. The others in the cabin began to wake up; if they weren’t already. “There were two gunshots out there and we had no clue where you were! If it wasn’t for security standing right outside our door I would have gone out there myself!” Jihyo’s hands began to shake and her face turned red. She pulled Dahyun in, took a deep breath and just hugged her tightly. The sudden pull tugged on Dahyun’s wound causing her to wince at the pain. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were so worried” Dahyun replied.

“Dahyun, we didn’t know where you were. All we knew is that there were two gunshots in the middle of the night and you were missing.” Jihyo had finally calmed down. The anger in her eyes turned to worry. “We didn’t know what to think” Jihyo took her hands off of Dahyun and returned to her bunk. Dahyun followed and sat on the edge of Chaeyoung’s bunk. 

“What happened?” Chaeyuoung asked while rubbing her hand up and down Dahyun’s back. Before answering, she sat back and wondered how she might answer that question. She couldn’t tell the truth. If she told them about what she saw the others would lose their minds. They would force her to go to the police. Thinking back to what Sana said. She was starting to believe it. Maybe she didn’t know what she saw. But she couldn’t say she was with Sana. That would make the other suspicious. 

“Well, I was on my way back to the cabin, alone, when I heard the first gunshot. I jumped under an overturned canoe because I didn’t know where it came from.” Dahyun went on. Everyone in the cabin was captivated. They couldn’t take their eyes off of her. She bit the corner of her lip. “Then I heard the second gunshot. I waited a little bit longer under the canoe until the coast was clear.” Her arm began to hurt again, it was almost like it knew she was lying. “Then I came back here.” Everyone let out a deep breath. Dahyun let her mind drift to Sana. She wondered if she was getting the same treatment. 

“We’re just glad you’re okay. Don’t do anything like that ever again. I don’t want to have to find another roommate” Chaeyoung chuckled while hugging Dahyun tightly. 

“Why are you wearing Sana’s sweater?” Tzuyu cut in with narrowed eyes and an inquisitive look. Suddenly the rest of the cabin began nodding in agreement. They piggy backed on Tzuyu’s questions looking for an answer. 

“Oh, well, Sana and I sat there for about another five minutes after Chaeyoung left. I was looking up at the stars and shuddered a couple of times. I, uh, didn’t even realize I was shivering. Before I knew it, Sana threw her sweater at me and told me that she was going back.” Dahyun sputtered. 

“Oh wow what a cutie.” Nayeon chimed in before placing her head back on her pillow. 

“Umm, yeah,” Dahyun stuttered and swallowed hard before continuing. “Then I was sitting there for only another ten minutes. Then I took one more look up at the stars before heading back. When I got to the canoe I heard the gunshot and took cover.” Dahyun finished. Shifting her gaze to each one of her castmates in an attempt to make eye contact with everyone. She hoped that she managed to fool everyone with her story. Everyone seemed to buy it, They were attentive and nodding their heads. 

“That was oddly specific” Tzuyu said as she laid her head back down and pulled up the blankets. 

“Still, I wonder what that gunshot was all about…” Jihyo pondered as she climbed back into bed. She let out a yawn and tucked herself in. Dahyun shrugged her shoulders and swallowed hard. One by one the other girls went to sleep leaving Chaeyoung and Dahyun awake. 

“So?” Chaeyoung whispered with hopeful eyes. “Was it magical? Did you two finally kiss again?” Dahyun stayed looking at Chaeyoung with her nervous eyes. She shifted her gaze back and forth not making eye contact with her friend. “Oh my God, you did didn’t you? And you went farther?” Chaeyoung tried prodding. 

“No we did not.” Dahyun argued. 

“Its okay to be embarrassed after your first time. I was at least. Listen, when you’re on the beach its normal to get sand-“

“Nothing happened!” Dahyun interjected, stopping Chaeyoung from saying anything more. First of all, they had been best friends their entire life but she didn’t know that Chaeyoung had a run at the bases. “I went to kiss her but I chickened out.” Dahyun huffed. 

“That’s all?” Chaeyoung confirmed.

Dahyun nodded in response. Oddly enough, that was the most truthful thing she had said that night. 

“Bummer. That’s alright, I’m sure you’ll get her next time.” Chaeyoung whispered before climbing back into bed. 

After Chaeyoung retired for the night, Dahyun managed to lift herself into the top bunk using her only functioning arm. She began to remove the hoodie before remembering the wound in her arm. If she wanted to hide what happened that night she needed to keep her arm covered up. Instead, she changed into her pajama bottoms and laid her head back on her pillow. 

For the first time since the morning Dahyun was alone with her thoughts. In her head she replayed the events of the day over and over again. She began by spending a romantic evening with her ‘not-girlfriend’ to getting shot and being on the run in the matter of seconds. The image played back in her head on a repeat cycle. The sound of the gunshot and the person dropping, the sound of a gunshot and her arm burning. After each repeated cycle she tossed and turned and with each sound of the gunshot her body trembled. She worried that she would shake the bed and wake up Chaeyoung. Her biggest concern was avoiding suspicion. 

Even though she replayed what she saw in her head over and over again, Sana’s words still echoed in her ears. ‘We don’t know what we saw.’ Dahyun questioned if her eyes had failed her. Was that another person on the beach? Did she actually see two figures? What if her eyes failed her? Even if they did, her arm didn’t fail her. Even if they did, her arm didn’t fail her. She traced her finger over the wound. As her index finger glossed over the puncture it stung. It was real. 

Her thoughts returned to what she remembered happening. Every time she tried to sleep these events re-occurred in her head. She checked her phone. The clock read 3:23AM. She had been awake for three hours. With all of the shaking and stress her body had been through, she finally felt tired and faded to sleep. 

The image of a masked assailant plagued each dream that she had. No matter what was happening, it always ended the same way. Dahyun staring down the barrel of a gun. Each time the assailant pulled the trigger , Dahyun woke with a jump.   
The next morning the girls were greeted with a pounding at their door shortly after 7AM. Jihyo answered the door and instructed the girls to get ready. Despite climbing into bed at midnight, Dahyun only managed to get two or three hours of sleep. She lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and slowly followed the girls in getting ready. 

They all gathered in the dining hall of the campground. All nine cast members were present. All of the camp staff and some police officers gathered around tables and waited. All of the girls seemed tired, but Dahyun and Sana looked like they hadn’t slept at all. Dahyun shifted her gaze over to Sana. Her eyes were swollen and barely open. She was rhythmically bouncing her head to keep herself awake. 

“So, as we all know there were reports of gunshots on the campground last night” the police officer began, breaking the silence. There were low murmurs throughout the people in the meeting. “To the group from the university, you are to return to your cabins and pack your things. We are deeply sorry.” 

The girls looked back and forth at one another and the officer on stage. They weren’t sure what he meant by an apology. As they slowly stood up the officer stepped down from the podium.   
Outside there were reporters’ vans and people doing interviews. Apparently, whatever happened the night before caught the media’s eye. 

“We ask that anyone with any information on what transpired last night please come and speak to us.” The officer concluded before finally returning to his colleagues.  
Dahyun swallowed hard. She didn’t dare to move her head. She didn’t want to let on about what she saw, or thought she saw, the night before. 

The slamming of a door and yelling triggered Dahyun. It brought her back to last night. She turned to see a man burst through the door and was headed straight for the police. He was hysterical. Dahyun recognized him in an instant.   
“You better find out who did this!” He yelled. The police tried to urge him to stop. “You want me to calm down? You have no right to tell me anything!”

Slowly, one by one the girls began recognizing that man. The police tried to suppress him and quiet him down. They tried to corner him off. The girls then turned their eyes towards one another. Dahyun’s stomach rose to her throat. The one time she didn’t want her gut feeling to be true. She began pulling at her fingers and breathing heavily. Her head felt like a million pounds. Her conscience was clouded. Despite all of the noise in the room, there was nothing that could snap her out of this. Nothing except the man’s next words. 

“Some bastard murdered my wife and you just want me to calm down!?” He yelled back at the police. 

From the back of the room there was a series of gasps and screams that filled the air. Dahyun saw it all in slow motion. Nayeon was the first. She passed out, collapsing to the ground nearly hitting her head on the table. Jeongyeon rushed over to her with tears pouring down her cheeks. Momo dropped her head into her hands and began sobbing. Jihyo grabbed a crying Mina and pulled her into her chest. Jihyo stared forward with her mouth agape, empty eyes, and an expressionless look on her face. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu pulled each other into a tight embrace seeking any amount of comfort. 

Dahyun looked over at Sana and met her gaze. Sana had finally accepted the truth of last night. She sank back in her chair and looked away. Dahyun returned her eyes to the front of the room. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. His protests confirmed what she saw the night before. Her eyes didn’t fail her. She knew what she saw. A person murdered in cold blood in front of her eyes. But it wasn’t just anyone Dahyun had seen get shot on the beach. It was something she could have never prepared herself for.

That man in the front of the room, was Taeyeon’s husband.


	4. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I am blown away by the amount of support I have been given. You are all fantastic and I am so fortunate to have dedicated fans and readers. 
> 
> It really warms my heart to get comments and it especially warmed my heart to reach 230 hits in under two weeks.
> 
> Please be sure to leave comments and bookmark if you enjoy. Also, if you know any other ONCE, please recommend my story to them! There is plenty more to come!
> 
> -OP

The sky was grey and there was a chilled breeze that blew against Dahyun’s cheek. It had been three days since the girls heard the news, their director had been murdered. All nine of the girls had gathered at the cemetery for Taeyeon’s funeral. They were accompanied by many of Taeyeon’s colleagues, friends, family, her husband, and their young son. It was a sea of black. Dahyun wore a long-sleeved black dress, mostly to hide her wound from everyone else. Many of the others present followed a similar scheme. 

Since the services had begun, a smile hadn’t broken anyone’s faces. Many people had taken their turn at the podium, telling stories and speaking wonderfully about their friend who had passed on. The final speaker was Jihyo. Having such a close bond with Taeyeon, she was invited to speak and say her final goodbyes on behalf of their cast.

“Taeyeon always kept an eye out on us. “Jihyo began slowly. “She was like a Mom to every single one of us and so many before us. She made rehearsal about us. She made it a place we all wanted to be. Every time she asked me to be a part of her show I was honoured. I was honoured to know I would be a part of her show. I can’t count on one hand the amount of times she would end rehearsals early and take us to dinner as an ‘important meeting.’ Her focus was always on other people. We were always paying her frequent visits on campus to vent about the tests we just wrote, the commute we had in, or any drama we had in our life. She never wanted us to take on anything alone.” Jihyo paused and took a deep breath. There were sniffles and muffled crying amongst those present. 

The eight members of their cast had been crying since the beginning of Jihyo’s parting words. Dahyun couldn’t take her eyes off of the ground in front of her. Her mind was full and empty at the same time. She wasn’t sure what to feel, or how to feel it. She closed her eyes hard and felt her cheeks tickle as tears streamed down them. 

“The last time we got to speak to her she taught us an important lesson about family. She reminded us that when we come together, our struggles become everyone’s struggles. That we always needed to be there to support each other when things are difficult. In honour of her, we should all check on those we love and care about. Most importantly, we should check on one another while we mourn.” Jihyo paused once again. The breeze picked up again. It chilled at the touch. “That same night she taught us that lesson, we all hugged her. We all took the opportunity to tell her how much what she said meant to each and everyone of us.” Jihyo sniffled and wiped at her nose. “We just, didn’t know that would be the last time we would get to do that.”

Dahyun dropped her head and looked down at her shoes. Jihyo came down from the podium and re-took her seat. As she took her seat, Tzuyu thanked her for her words and lightly rubbed her back while trying to fight back tears of her own.

“Thank you Jihyo. Your powerful words truly showcased the life that Taeyeon led. She was a community leader, a wife, a mother, and a friend. Throughout all the paths she followed she managed to touch the hearts of many.” The minister finished. With his closing, he recited a prayer and performed a blessing before indicating that their ceremony had finished. 

One by one, people began lining up to speak to Taeyeon’s husband one more time offering their condolences and support before leaving. In his tow, was their four-year-old son. As people offered their condolences, they made sure to show some support to the young boy. 

After the blessing, the girls walked to Taeyeon’s casket and one by one rested their hand upon it. Through tears they managed to say their final goodbyes. Dahyun was the last one to say goodbye. Her heart throbbed and her head pounded. Her clouded head hung over Taeyeon. She felt her tears fall from her eyes. Unable to think, she walked away to meet up with her cast mates. 

As she walked through the grass and between the rows of other graves, she was startled by a sound to her right. She whipped her head to see a tall man light a cigarette, flip his zippo lighter closed, and shove it back into his pocket. He had slicked black hair and a sharp jaw line. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was going to scare you” The man said before taking a drag of his cigarette. 

“Oh, its okay” Dahyun weakly responded. “I just didn’t know you were there.”

“I get it. It’s an emotional time right now. Hormones are running wild, and feelings are all over the place. I should have known better,” he said, exhaling, while walking alongside Dahyun. “How did you know her?” he asked before turning his eyes forward.

“I am-“ Dahyun managed to catch herself before. “Was in her cast. I started performing shows with her last year.” She began pulling at her fingers and took a deep breath. She could feel herself start to shake and tried to think of anything that would calm her down. “What about you?” She asked in the hopes of trying to calm herself down by listening. Instead of responding orally, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge. 

“Homicide unit. They put me on this case. It only seemed right that I started my investigation here. I had no idea she knew so many people.” He said before taking another puff of his cigarette. 

He seemed mysterious and very meticulous. Very by the book. Everything about him was formal. His clothing, his job, and his posture. The only thing that wasn’t was his speech.   
“Oh, thank you for what you do.” Dahyun said. She wasn’t sure how to talk to this man. She had just met him and wasn’t sure how to talk to him. Even though she didn’t know him. Dahyun felt oddly comfortable talking to him. It seemed like almost for a couple of minutes she was trying to let herself be okay. As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a hand get forced into her own. 

“Detective Jin-Young Park” he introduced himself before shaking Dahyun’s hand. 

“My name is Dahyun,” She followed suit. 

“Well Dahyun, make sure you take care of yourself. It sounds like that’s what she would have wanted. I can promise you that we are going to do everything we can on our end. He let out a final exhale before throwing out his cigarette butt and climbing into a sports car. Dahyun waved as he drove off.

Dahyun then turned her head to see her castmates all gathered around Jeongyeon’s car. She began to weave in and out of the parked cars. As she approached closer she began to hear an intense conversation being shared between two men. Dahyun peered her head around the car to make sure that everything was okay. 

“What are you doing here?” Taeyeon’s husband growled. “After everything you did, you have the nerve to show up?”

“Mark, she’s my friend just as much as she’s your wife. We went to school together.” The other man responded, trying to calm the other man down. 

“It told you to stay away from my wife you-“

“Nothing was going on Mark. I told you that. She told you that.” He shot back. “Listen, you’re upset right now-“

“I’m pissed at you. You are the last person I would want to see after everything. Don’t think I forgot about what happened in university. You want me to believe nothing was up?”  
“Mark-“ the man began to plead before being cut off abruptly. 

“Stay away from my family, or you’re going to get it.” Mark threatened while pointing at him. He then got into his car and drove off. 

Dahyun struggled to understand what had just played out in front of her. As the other man began to turn around, Dahyun pulled herself back behind the car and continued walking. 

As she arrived, they were all hugging each other and saying goodbye. The long hugs and messages were echoed back and forth to one another. A reminder to take care of themselves and each other because that’s what Taeyeon would have wanted. 

Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Nayeon loaded into Jeongyeon’s car. Jeongyeon lived fairly close to Dahyun and Chaeyoung, and despite having her own place Nayeon basically lived with Jeongyeon. The car ride was silent. The only sounds to be heard were those of the cars that whipped past them and their own engine. The radio was off. Everyone was still trying to process what they were facing. The pure silence made what would normally be a fifteen-minute car ride feel like an hour. 

After parting and thanking Jeongyeon, Dahyun and Chaeyoung went upstairs to their apartment and flipped on the lights. Chaeyoung kicked off her shoes and went on ahead.   
“I’m uh, gonna go lay down” she said slowly before walking down the hallway and disappearing into her room. 

The click of the door left Dahyun alone once again. She stepped out of her flats and into her slippers. She sat down on the couch and opened her phone. No messages, no phone calls. Her parents had already spoken to her that morning to check in on her. She hoped she’d have at least a message from Sana. She tried sitting on different parts of the couches without any changes. 

In her restless state, she wandered aimlessly to the kitchen and sat at the table. The seat she usually sat in was, for the first time, uncomfortable. For the better part of ten minutes she shifted her weight in various ways in an attempt to find any form of comfort but found no success. 

In frustration, she stood up and began to head down the hallway. She caught herself when she saw the window over looking the city. They grey clouds that filled the sky at the funeral were replaced by black storm clouds. She felt drawn to the window. It was something about the view, something about the weather that just pulled her in. 

Dahyun stepped up onto the window sill and sat with her shoulder against the pane. She looked out the window to see the storm clouds move in and lightning illuminate the sky. She wasn’t sure what to feel. She knew she was sad but felt conflicted. She wondered if she could’ve done something differently that night. What if she would’ve made noise sooner? Would she have gotten shot? What if she stepped out of the bushes? Would Taeyeon still be alive? What if her and Sana were never on the beach to begin with? Would she feel any better in this moment? Dahyun’s mind was full of ‘what ifs.’ The only thing she had though, was ‘what is.’ 

Dahyun leaned her head against the cold pane and saw the rain drops trickle down the window. Despite all of her emotions, she finally felt comfortable sitting up on the window sill. 

Her mind drifted to Sana. She wondered how she was holding up. She was always scared of thunderstorms. If everything wasn’t already overwhelming, it had to have been now. Dahyun began pulling at her fingers. She felt empty, she felt blind, she felt like she had no direction. She was numb. She just wanted Sana to feel okay. She wanted to feel okay.   
As the thunder rumbled, she let her mind drift to her own wellbeing. She wanted to talk to someone, but she couldn’t talk to anyone about what she saw. She began to doubt how much talking to someone would actually help her through this experience. She let out a deep sigh. Not only that, but everyone was grieving and Dahyun didn’t want to bother anyone. 

A bolt of lightning cracked causing Dahyun to jump. The force of nature snapper her back into rational thought. The words of the police officer echoed in her head.   
“We ask that anyone who has any information on what transpired last night to come speak to us.”

Its not that she had some information, she had all the information and the healing wound to prove it. It felt like the right thing to do. Step forward and help bring justice to the person who brought her so much pain and suffering. She felt angry with herself that she didn’t step forward that night. She thought more and more about stepping up now. Its not that she didn’t want to. She couldn’t do it alone. No one would believe her unless Sana was there to corroborate her claims, and it seemed like Sana had no intention to say anything. 

Dahyun sighed again, the storm raging on just beyond the glass. In trying to process everything she felt the anxiety well up in her chest. She was finding it hard to breathe and settle herself. She finally let herself want to talk to someone. But not just anyone. She wanted to talk to Sana. Not only was the someone she could be vulnerable with, she was the only one that she could talk to about that night. 

Dahyun stopped pulling at her fingers, and reached over for her phone. Her hands trembled as she looked through her contact list for Sana’s name. She thought about backing down. Not asking. Not wanting to be a bother. She took a deep breath and let her thumb fall on the dial button. 

She stopped breathing as the phone rang. She wondered again if this was the right thing to do. Ring. She knew she needed to talk to someone. Ring. But she knew Sana was also grieving and didn’t need the added stress. Ring. But Taeyeon would have wanted them to work through this together.

Silence.

There was no response on the other line. Sana’s voice came through, but only to ask her to leave a message. Dahyun pushed her head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. With a buzz of her phone, she shot back up and opened it. 

One text message from Sana read “Sorry, I don’t really want to talk to anyone right now.” A second message followed it. “I’m really sorry, I just can’t. Make sure to take care of yourself.” Although it wasn’t the response Dahyun wanted, she felt some sort of comfort to actually get a response. 

“Its okay. I understand. Take care of yourself too.” Dahyun quickly responded. She placed her phone down on the window sill beside her. The tap of her phone hitting the tile of the window sill left her alone again. She turned her head back to the window and watched as the storm clouds passed over the city and began to part. She let out a yawn, swung her legs off of the sill and began to head down to her room. As she walked through the apartment she pushed in the chair she tried to sit in and flipped off all of the lights.   
She slowly walked down the hall and to her bedroom. She opened the door with a creak and placed one finger on the light switch to the hallway. Just before she flipped the light, Chaeyoung’s door opened. She poked her head out of the door frame. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks red. She had been crying. 

“Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Are you doing okay?” She sniffled with a quivering lip. 

“Yeah…” Dahyun responded and looked down. 

“Do you want to try to talk about it?” Chaeyoung asked. 

Dahyun simply shook her head in response. Brought her eyes back up to Chaeyoung’s and took a deep breath. It wasn’t long before she dropped her head back down to look at the floor. She felt a tight pair of arms wrap around her. Dahyun managed to bring herself to reciprocate the motion. With Chaeyoung’s head nestled in her neck, she felt tears drop down on to her shoulder. Chaeyoung’s hand slowly rubbed up and down Dahyun’s back. Even though they didn’t talk, for the short time they were in an embrace Dahyun felt comfortable and safe. 

When their hug broke, both of the girls retreated to their rooms without any words exchanged between the two of them. Dahyun climbed into bed and tossed and turned. Much like the night everything happened, Dahyun could not sleep. As soon as she would begin to fade off into sleep she would replay everything that happened that night. Every time she heard the sound of the bang she jumped out of her slumber in a cold sweat. 

Dahyun tried to force herself to think about other things. She thought about her favourite T.V. show, the last book she read, and even the rapidly approaching school year. No matter how much time she spent thinking about other things her mind was always brought back to the sound of a gun. Whether consciously or unconsciously. Whether she was awake or asleep. No amount of effort would change what was on her mind. 

Dahyun’s mind finally brought herself back to that window sill. There her mind felt free to think through everything. Not only could she think through everything, she felt safe doing it. These thoughts still left Dahyun with a certain amount of uncertainty. She wanted to feel better. It had only been a few days since that night, but she had barely slept at all. Her mind and body were exhausted with no amount of relief in sight. She wondered what going back to school would be like knowing Taeyeon wouldn’t be there. 

Dahyun wondered when her storm clouds would pass.


	5. Life Goes On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Thanks again for tuning in to the next chapter. I'm so fortunate to have so many ONCE reading this story. It's a lot of fun to write and I absolutely love it. 
> 
> I'm sorry about taking a longer time to upload this chapter. I went to visit home this week and I didn't have time to upload. But here it is! 
> 
> Please leave your comments and feedback. It always warms my hearts to read your messages!

Dahyun held her straps close to her chest as she walked down the sidewalk. She only lifted her head as she passed by a building or had to navigate around a group of students.   
It was the first week back to classes and Dahyun forced herself to make it to campus. Amongst her friends, she seemed to be the one who was the most affected by the events of the past week. Although the others were obviously upset they were able to get out of bed and function without any issue. Jihyo even went as far as talking to the administration at the University about getting permission to still perform the show. Knowing the show would be a tribute to their director and her family, the University was more than willing to allow it, and was enough to get every single one of the girls to stay on the project. Their first rehearsal was scheduled for the next day. 

As she walked through the streets and entered into the philosophy department, she caught the eyes of many people. At the sight of her many people turned to their friends and began whispering behind their hands. Dahyun couldn’t be upset. She expected something like this to happen. Everyone in the city heard about the kind-hearted director murdered while on a retreat. Even if people at the university never had a class with her or never spoke to her, almost everyone knew who Taeyeon was. 

People may not know Dahyun directly, but they knew she was in the theatre group. She didn’t help herself by wearing the sweater that the whole cast got after last year’s show.   
That morning after getting dressed she almost stepped out of her room before remembering the glaring wound in her arm that no one knew about. She turned and grabbed her theatre sweater because she had no other options. She couldn’t risk wearing Sana’s sweater. If she ran into any of her cast mates then she wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that she still had Sana’s sweater. Instead of dealing with the suspicion of her cast mates and the issues that would likely follow, she decided she would rather deal with the looks from people on the street. Besides, no sweater wasn’t an option, she couldn’t afford to let Chaeyoung see her arm. 

Every morning, and especially now, Dahyun and Chaeyoung walked to school together. Before, it was about having some company on the walk to school, now it was about not going alone. Chaeyoung greeted Dahyun at the door to the apartment with a reassuring smile. Chaeyoung was the type of person to crash hard immediately after something happened and bounce back just as quickly. Dahyun wasn’t surprised she was chipper this early. 

As the two made their way down to campus, Dahyun was bobbing her head in an attempt to keep herself awake. She lifted her head to see what could be her saving grace.

“Chaeng, can we stop in here?” Dahyun asked while gesturing to the corner store. 

“Sure… Why? Is everything okay?” Chaeyoung turned to Dahyun with concerned eyes. 

“I just need a coffee” Dahyun replied as she opened the door.

“You never drink coffee.”

“I don’t know, I guess I need one today” Dahyun replied while filling her cup. Chaeyoung’s eyes turned serious. She put her hands on Dahyun’s shoulders.

“Look, maybe you should take the day off. It’s okay if you still need some time” Chaeyoung suggested. “Besides, it’s still the first week so you won’t-“

“Chaeyoung, I’m fine. I appreciate the concern, but I’m okay.” Dahyun concluded before snapping the lid on her coffee and paying for it. Chaeyoung nodded her head, understanding, and squeezed Dahyun’s shoulder before holding the door open for her. 

The rest of the walk was filled with light conversation. They mostly talked about their schedules and the things that they had to do. Chaeyoung mentioned that she was on babysitting duty the next day before rehearsal. 

After the funeral, the girls agreed to babysit Taeyeon’s son for a while until things smoothed out. They agreed to take shifts in pairs so they wouldn’t have to babysit a toddler on their own. Not by her own wishes, Dahyun was on today’s shift. After class she was supposed to meet Mina at Taeyeon’s house. She had tried to line up her schedule with Sana but ultimately couldn’t. 

Since the night of the funeral they hadn’t talked much. Aside from Dahyun sending texts to check up on her, they hadn’t seen each other. A sea of excuses or lack of responses prevented the two from interacting. For this reason, Dahyun was oddly looking forward to rehearsal. Both her and her ‘not-girlfriend’ had to be there, no exceptions.   
As they got to Chaeyoung’s sociology class, the girls parted ways. Dahyun snapped back to the present. Her once empty classroom began to fill up. She was glad that she hid in the back of the room, less chance of having to interact with people. The professor began talking. Todays lecture was an introduction to the course and a beginning of a discussion surrounding moral culpability. The first topic was about the severity of a failure to act, compared to actively committing a wrong act. Dahyun closed her eyes, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a deep inhale. She hoped that by coming to school she would be able to get away from the thoughts that filled her head while she was sitting alone, not make them worse. She rolled her eyes and tried to keep her mind free and her conscience safe. 

After the class ended, she exited out of the back door and headed straight for Taeyeon’s house. She couldn’t remember a single thing from the lecture. As the professor continued to talk she tried to tune him out more and more. She felt bad enough, she definitely didn’t want the well founded theory that explained why she was responsible for what happened to Taeyeon. 

As she arrived at the front door, Taeyeon’s husband threw the door open and almost toppled Dahyun over before stopping himself. 

“I’m sorry Dahyun, I just don’t want to be late.” He said while still trying to get one of his shoes on. 

“No need to apologize, I completely understand” Dahyun replied while stepping out of the way. 

“Okay, Mina is already inside with Sian. If you need anything just call me.” He said as he pushed through the door. Before he made it down the steps he turned back to Dahyun. “Oh yeah, if the phone rings, don’t answer it. Just let it go to voicemail, I’ll call them back later.” Dahyun nodded and watched him get into his car and peel out of the drive way. As he turned the corner, Dahyun turned back through the door. 

Inside, she kicked off her sneakers and turned into the living room. Mina was laying on her side on the floor with Sian. She was wearing her classic combo of jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Sian was laying down pushing a car back and forth on the ground mimicking the sound of a car. He was the first to notice Dahyun, he turned his head and shot up running straight to her. 

“Dahyunnie!” He shouted as he wrapped his arms around her legs and buried his head in her thigh. 

“Hi Sian,” Dahyun replied with a short giggle. The cute toddler clinging on to her was too cute for her not to smile. 

After he got his hug, he turned and ran back to his lot of toy cars and continued rolling them around the floor. As he ran back, Mina stood up and walked towards Dahyun. They greeted each other with a hug and turned to look at the toddler in front of them. 

“How are you doing?” Mina asked.

“About as good as I think I can…” Dahyun replied directly. “What about you?”

“A lot better than I thought I was going to be” Mina replied before letting out a sigh that Dahyun is more than used to giving out herself. 

Sian turned at the sounds of Mina’s vent. He gestured for the two girls to sit down and join him. Dahyun asked him to be patient for one more minute. 

“How was your first day back on campus?” Mina turned back to Dahyun.

“It was just as awkward and awful as I hoped it wouldn’t be.” Dahyun merely breathed. 

“Yeah, I couldn’t get away from the looks either.” Mina replied and looked down. 

Mina, much like Dahyun didn’t always want to be in the spotlight. She was known for being cheery and there weren’t many things that could stop that. She was always someone you could count on to cheer you up if you were having a bad day. That isn’t something Dahyun wanted to rely on. Especially now. 

Dahyun really felt for Mina. Mina knew more people at the school, and even more people knew Mina. Her kind soul and acting talents were known across the campus. At first, people wouldn’t expect much from Mina. She was quiet, almost dorky in a way. But when she stepped on stage she could play any character. That sort of talent earned her offers of admission to the theatre program. All of the girls were surprised when she politely declined the offer. She did theatre for fun. She also told Chaeyoung that she did theatre to help herself make friends at university and feel comfortable in social settings one night they were hanging out after rehearsal. It just turns out that she was a natural. 

“I wish it stopped there.” Mina said. “There were a lot of people who asked me about that night, and if I was okay, and if I wanted to talk they would be there for me. It was comforting I guess, but it was so overwhelming.” Mina sucked on her bottom before taking a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put that on you.” Mina apologized. 

“No, no. Don’t apologize. My day was kind of like that too, I get it. We’re all in this together.” Dahyun sighed. Even though she said it, and encouraged others to reach out, she refused to take her own advice. 

“It’s been a minute!” Sian called from the ground with his toys. 

“How do you know that mister?” Mina said with a soft but teasing voice instantly switching back into Mina the babysitter. 

“Because.” He replied with a shining grin on his face. 

“Because how?” Mina asked while shifting her head to the side. 

“Because, it takes one minute for this car to drive over here.” He said before breaking out into hysterical laugh. 

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” Mina said with her signature smile before kneeling down next to him and grabbing a car of her own. As she watched her get down. Dahyun was envious. She wished that she could turn her emotions off so quickly, or at least do a better job at hiding it. 

After a couple of hours of playing and a dinner of macaroni and cheese courtesy of Mina, Dahyun found herself sitting in the living room with Sian again. This time instead of cars, he was interested in his set of blocks. Dahyun would hold up a block and offer it to Sian. If he wanted to use it he’d take it from her hand and add it to his structure. If he didn’t he’d simply shake his head while his eyes were fixated on the beginning of the building. 

With the flip of a switch Mina stepped out of the kitchen while on the phone. 

“Okay sounds good. We just fed him so there’s no need to rush. Unless you want left over macaroni and cheese you might want to grab something. Okay, see you soon.” Mina stepped into the room and hung up the phone. “Mark said he’d be home soon.” Dahyun nodded her head and began to say something before being interrupted by a little voice.

“His name is Dad.” Sian said while taking a block out of Dahyun’s hand. Dahyun couldn’t help but laugh. Baby sitting seemed to be a lot easier than she thought it was going to be. 

“You’re right Sian. Dad is going to be home soon okay?” Mina chuckled while leaning against the door frame. Sian nodded his head and placed a block on top of his tower. “I’m going to go to the washroom. You okay out here?” Mina asked as she pushed herself off the frame. 

“I mean it’s not like I really have an option here.” Dahyun responded with a raised eyebrow. 

“Touché” Mina said as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Dahyun turned her attention back to Sian. 

“How about this one?” Dahyun asked while holding a pointed block? 

“That’s perfect!” he exclaimed, grabbing it from Dahyun’s hand, and placing it at the peak of his structure. “Take a picture! I want to show Dad” he cheered while smiling beside his blocks. Dahyun snapped a quick picture with her phone before showing it to him. 

“I’m sure Dad is going to like it” Dahyun said before sitting back down on her knees. 

“Do you think Mom likes it?” He asked while looking up at the ceiling. 

“Mom loves it” Dahyun replied, one hand gripping her wound.

“I miss Mommy” Sian said turning his attention back to his blocks.

“I know. We all miss her too.” Dahyun swallowed hard. She felt her stomach begin to turn and she started pulling at her fingers. Dahyun wanted to say more. She wished she could. She felt stuck. She always knew kids were brutally honest, but this isn’t something she expected. 

The only thing she knew she had going for her was that he was young. He didn’t have a full understanding of what was going on. Life and death. Sometimes she wished she could go back to those days of innocence. But she knew. If Plato taught her anything, innocence compromised is innocence lost. 

“Dad said he misses Mom too. I wish they didn’t fight a lot of the time though.” Sian sighed while taking down his tower. Without hesitation Dahyun snapped her head to the toddler. 

“What do you mean?” She stuttered. It felt like her throat was closing and she was losing control of her body. “Why were they fighting?” Sian simply shrugged his shoulders.   
“I don’t know. Grown up stuff.” 

“oh, that’s-“ Dahyun began before being cut off.

“But when the man started coming, they fought more.” Sian said casually and innocently.

“What man?” Dahyun asked. The words involuntarily came out of her mouth. 

“He talked to my Mom a lot. Maybe they were friends.” He said while arranging his blocks again. 

Dahyun was shocked. She felt sick. Seeing Taeyeon’s husband and some other man arguing with each other at the funeral made her wonder if anything happened because of either of them. Her mind was racing at a mile a minute. She was caught between wanting to know more and never wanting to hear about this again. Surely Taeyeon’s husband couldn’t be the one who did this. Dahyun forced herself to turn back to the unsuspecting child and ask another question. 

“I want to build something for Dad for when he gets home. Can you help me again?” He asked before Dahyun was able to get a word in. 

Within seconds the bathroom door opened and Mina stepped out. Without waiting, Dahyun sprung to her feet and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Just on the other side, she could hear Sian asking Mina to help him with his structure and Mina’s soothing voice agreeing. 

Dahyun hunched herself over the toilet. She could feel her stomach turn upside down and rise up to her throat and then back down. It was so much to take in. Not only did she hear about the potential that Taeyeon’s husband could have been the one to kill her, she had more information that she had to store away within herself and not tell anyone. She felt her head start to spin again. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what was right and what was wrong in this situation. To Sian, he was just exploring the world and all of the things that are apart of it. To Dahyun she was forced to relive memories and theories that she wished she could drive out of her head. 

Then she felt it. She lurched forward and relieved her stomach into the toilet bowl. She tried to pause to keep herself quiet. She didn’t want Mina to hear her throwing up. She couldn’t stop it. She just felt so uneasy, uncomfortable, and guilty. She wished this wasn’t her reality. 

After about ten minutes, Dahyun stepped out of the bathroom to see Taeyeon’s husband holding Sian and Mina giggling while slipping her shoes on. Dahyun couldn’t look him in the eyes. Especially not after what Sian had told her. Dahyun forced herself to greet Mark and got herself ready to go. 

“Okay Sian, say bye to the girls!” Mark encouraged while Sian waved bye. The girls said their goodbyes and set out on their way home. 

The two walked down the neighbourhood street to the closest bus stop. They could ride the bus together for the first little bit. Mina had a bit of a further ride than Dahyun did.

They made casual small talk about how cute Sian was and how babysitting wasn’t as bad as they expected it to be. Without much warning, Mina’s conversation turned serious. 

“So, are we going to talk about what happened there before Mark got home?” Mina asked while keeping her eyes focused on the outlines of the city streets. 

“What do you mean?” Dahyun innocently replied. “I just had to go to the washroom.”

“Well I’ll say. You blew right past me and didn’t come out for like ten minutes.” Mina’s voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my cooking was that bad.” Mina’s voice sounded empty. 

“No no, I wasn’t feeling well today. I guess it just kind of hit me then.” Dahyun felt her hands start to shake. She couldn’t let Mina feel bad about something she didn’t do, but she also didn’t know how long she could keep this up. Without hesitation Mina’s head shot back up. 

“Oh, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I’m just glad I’m not the one who made you feel sick.” Her gummy smile returned back to her face. 

Based on the way she was acting, Sian must not have said anything to her about Mark and Taeyeon fighting and the ‘other man.’ She didn’t want anyone to know about what Sian said to her. If anyone found out, they’d force her to try to step forward. 

With that, the bus arrived and the two girls stepped on and sat at the back of the bus. 

The ride was full of nervous shaking and forward staring. She just wanted to be home. She didn’t feel comfortable especially after today, and she no longer felt safe. The stress her body was under left her with a clouded conscience. Much like the trend of the past week, she couldn’t think straight. 

“Hey,” Mina called out putting her hand on Dahyun’s back. “Are you okay? You seem really distant.” Dahyun recoiled and turned to look back at Mina. She couldn’t control her shaking. “Did something happen?”

Mina was always good at seeing through people. That’s why Dahyun never wanted to lie. Just by sitting on a bus with her for fifteen minutes Mina knew there was something more going on than what Dahyun was telling her. At all other times, the entire group loved her for that. She helped people ease into feeling comfortable talking before being picked up by Taeyeon or Jihyo. But at a time like this, Dahyun feared it. Her chest was heavy, like it was going to cave in. She didn’t know what to do, but she knew she needed a way out of this. 

“Its just been a long day,” Dahyun lied. She knew it wasn’t enough to fool Mina, but she hoped it would be enough for her to stop pressing. Dahyun looked out of the front of the bus. She saw her stop coming up and stood up. 

“Alright.” Mina affirmed. “Dahyun, it gets better from here I promise. Just make sure to take care of yourself okay? I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow?” 

“I’ll try.” Dahyun nodded her head, stood up, and turned to Mina. The two exchanged a hug before Dahyun got off of the bus. 

She unlocked the door and stepped inside her apartment. It was dark, and it was quiet. Surely Chaeyoung had already gone to bed. Dahyun thought about sleeping, she just couldn’t do it. There were too many things floating around her head. 

As she paced around the apartment she took another look out of the window. The city skyline over the night sky pulled her in, forcing her to take a seat. She climbed up on the window sill and leaned her head against the pane. As she felt the cold rush to her cheeks she was finally able to take a deep breath. She could finally process what Sian had told her. Mark and Taeyeon had been fighting. It was something that Dahyun would have never expected. From what Taeyeon had always said about Mark and the way they acted together, their marriage had been great. She never would have believed there had been issues like that. Had she been wrong? Was their marriage actually terrible? Taeyeon never showed so Dahyun didn’t know what to believe. 

Sian’s words echoed in her head over and over again. All of the worry about their fighting didn’t include this ‘other man.’ Was this person a one off thing? Were they there frequently? Did this contribute to their fighting? Did it have anything to do with Taeyeon’s death?

So many things Dahyun didn’t know and didn’t know how to find out more. Did she want to find out more? Right now she had so much information but no knowledge on what to do with it. 

Her thoughts turned to Sana and rehearsal. She needed to talk to Sana. Without her, she couldn’t do anything and would be forced to live with all of these thoughts and demons plaguing her mind. She needed Sana to agree that they should step forward. That they should say something. Especially with what she learned that day. 

Dahyun surprised herself with her level of rational thought. Something about being perched up on that window sill was soothing. It was some of the only time that she was able to let herself feel relaxed. The worries of the world ceased to exist on that sill that overlooked the city. 

Dahyun let out a yawn. She started to feel tired. With that, she tried to return her thoughts on what she needed to do the following day at rehearsal. It was the only way that she was going to be able to make herself do this. She needed to talk to Sana. Not only for Taeyeon, but for herself. She hadn’t talked to Sana in over a week and that in itself made Dahyun anxious. 

She needed to talk to Sana about what happened that night. Most importantly, she needed to talk to Sana about what to do next. Without Sana it wouldn’t work. Dahyun just hoped that Sana’s mind would have changed. It was going to be the only way that Dahyun would step forward with her. 

The thought of stepping forward got to her. She began to pull at her fingers once again. As nerve wracking as it was, she knew it was the right thing to do. She decided. At rehearsal, she would force herself to talk to her ‘not-girlfriend’ about this. 

With that frame of mind, Dahyun tried to get herself to bed in any attempt to get some sleep. She stepped down from the window sill. As she walked down the hallway back to her room she thought more and more about being forward with Sana. She was always reserved, but tomorrow she’d try to make herself be assertive. The triumph was short lived. She felt herself start to shake once again as she laid herself down in bed. 

The stress of the day that was to come. The replays of what happened that night. The stress of what she saw in her dreams. 

These were all enough to ensure that Dahyun had to ensure yet another sleepless night.


	6. Face to Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I owe you all a huge apology. It has been so long since I last updated. Let me explain :)
> 
> Work between my two jobs picked up and got pretty busy. On top of this I was preparing for a huge exam. The only time I had to write was on my lunch breaks at work. I am working on getting back on to a more regular schedule for updating. 
> 
> During my hiatus we hit over 500 hits. This is such a surreal feeling to me! I never expected to write something that would reach this many people so quickly. I feel so lucky to have dedicated readers! 
> 
> As always, please leave comments, kudos, and bookmarks so you don't forget your place ;) 
> 
> Most importantly, enjoy!  
> \--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her hands trembled as she took her notes. Her professor was rambling on in her elective film studies course. Everything he talked about was common sense. Dahyun felt like it didn’t require her full attention. With all of the movies she watched with Sana she could identify a motif while only paying half a mind.

She tried to take a breath and looked down at her notes. Chicken Scratch. She could barely read it. She sighed and dropped her pen on her notebook. Her hands still shaking.  
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she knew why she was anxious. Today was the day she was going to confront Sana. She was scared. She didn’t know how Sana would react. Upset? Angry? Sad? She didn’t even know if she was ready to talk about what happened. The last time they talked about it Sana was upset, almost hostile. But they hadn’t talked since then. She didn’t know how much had changed. That’s all she could hope for. The anxiety set in. No matter the reaction, after class Dahyun had to come face to face with Sana. 

Dahyun shifted in her seat. She felt the sweat bead on her forehead. She was wearing her sweater again. The city was still in the blistering summer heat. Going anywhere was uncomfortable in regular clothes, let alone an oversized sweater. She couldn’t afford to risk letting anyone see the wound in her arm. If it meant hiding her secret, any amount of uncomfortability would be worth it. 

She was so deep in her own thought that she almost didn’t notice her classmates and colleagues stand up and start to leave the lecture hall. She slowly packed up her things and carried herself out of the class room. 

She got to the theatre earlier than she had thought. She stepped through the empty auditorium. As she walked through the aisles the memories came back to her. Last year’s performance. She could almost see them all on stage. The sounds of the audience’s applause in her head was like music to her ears. It was refreshing, so re-assuring. She walked across the stage and then through the back door and into the locker room. She placed her bag in her locker and then retrieved her script. She sat down on the bench and then waited. Her mind was clear. The theatre had been a safe place for her entire life. 

Being as studious as she was came with a lot of stress. School dominated most of her time and mental space. But every time she went to a rehearsal, she was able to forget about all of that for a few hours. It all led up to a few performances. After all the time they put into it, they did it for nothing more than a room full of people to clap for her. But she didn’t see it as that. She saw it as an infinite amount of cast bonding and memories that would last for a lifetime. 

Theatre taught her how to talk to people, make friends, and taught her a lot about herself. That’s how she met Chaeyoung. At the first rehearsal she had ever attended, some black-haired girl bobbled her way to Dahyun and introduced herself. The introduction that that would spark the 15-year friendship between the two. 

The sound of an opening door caught her attention. She checked her phone. The time read 3:55PM. Five minutes until rehearsal was supposed to begin. In through the door walked Jihyo. Her eyes lit up at Dahyun. 

“Wow, someone’s eager” Jihyo teased as she opened up her locker. “Someone is actually here before me for once? That’s setting the tone for a great show!” Jihyo chuckled.   
She was laughing. So readily. So quickly. So soon after everything happened. Dahyun expected that Jihyo would’ve been the one who was shaken up the most. She was the closest to Taeyeon out of all of the cast. Taeyeon mentored Jihyo in the theatre. Coached her acting. Taught her about set and stage design. She even taught her some of her directing skills. Where Dahyun grieved, lost sleep, and barely ate, Jihyo was able to smile, laugh, and joke. All things Dahyun missed immensely. 

“Yeah,” Dahyun forced a fake laugh. “I’m just really excited to get started.” She looked forward. She could feel Jihyo staring at her. She tried to force herself to stay out of her gaze. 

“Isn’t it a little hot out for a sweater?” Jihyo asked, concern in her voice. Dahyun whipped her head back to face Jihyo. 

“No, I usually run cold,” Dahyun immediately responded. Almost automatically. Almost robotic. Jihyo’s eyes didn’t waver. They never did. As impossible as it was to get things past Jihyo, everyone still tried. She narrowed her eyebrows at Dahyun. 

“Dahyun,” she began. 

Dahyun started trembling. Jihyo was focused. 

“Look, if you’re-“ Jihyo was cut off by the sound of the door opening and other voices. Jihyo shifted her focus to the door. Dahyun was saved. Until Jihyo wanted to bring this up again. 

In walked the seven other cast members. Including her Sana. She was smiling. Her cheeks were puffed and her eyes were lit up. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt that fit her figure perfectly. Dahyun could feel her stomach rise up again. Sana was the only one that could do this to her. Seeing and knowing she was smiling was enough to help set her mind at ease. 

She looked over to Dahyun and they made eye contact. She smiled out of the corner of her mouth before walking through with Momo. 

Without much time to waste, Jihyo made sure that everyone had their scripts before ushering them out onto the stage.

The stage was loosely designed to look like what the final product might look like. That’s how their company did it. Even for table reads they always had the stage set to feel comfortable interacting with the stage. As they walked out on stage and saw the set, the atmosphere changed. Eager faces turned long and eyes fell to the floor. One by one the cast slowly sat down on the set and flipped their scripts open to page one. Sana sat directly across from Dahyun. Just having her there was enough to keep her hands from shaking uncontrollably. Chaeyoung planted herself right beside Dahyun and got in tight. 

As rehearsal and dialogue started, Dahyun followed along. Her character didn’t join the cast until about a quarter of the way through the play. She felt down. The lines being delivered were cold. Even Jeongyeon couldn’t find the energy to deliver her lines with passion. Almost everyone kept their eyes focused on their script. 

Only one voice was full of energy. Jihyo took a stab at her lines. It was refreshing. Something different, but not enough. The atmosphere was cold. 

Dahyun saw it in the eyes of every person there. For the first time since she had met the cast, it seemed like no one wanted to be there. Who could blame them? They were forced to endure a loss that most people never experience in a lifetime. She thought about her own situation. She and Sana were forced to see something that no one should ever have to see. The same thing that kept her up at night and forced her to keep her mouth shut. 

Without warning Jihyo stood up. Dahyun was the first to notice. She left her script on her seat and planted herself centre stage looking back at her cast mates. 

“We need to address the elephant in the room.” Jihyo placed her hands on her hips. All of the girls lifted their heads to look at her. “Let’s just call it what it is. Our annual show became a tribute show dedicated to Taeyeon and everything she did. Not only for us, but for everyone she has ever met.” Jihyo was firm.

Saddened eyes opened up wide. No one, including Dahyun, expected Jihyo to be so direct. Without any build-up she jumped on sensitive topics that were still raw for everyone.   
“Jihyo, listen we shouldn’t-“ Nayeon said before being cut off. 

“No. We need to talk about this. If we keep tip toeing around this it’s only going to hurt us more.”

“We’re not ready to”

“Nayeon she’s right,” Jeongyeon interjected, placing her hand on her girlfriend’s thigh. 

Dahyun looked around. Every member of the cast was nodding their head in agreement. 

“If we don’t talk about this, things will be worse off than if we just faced it. We’re family. We share each other’s problems and take care of each other. That’s what Taeyeon told us. Even now, that’s what she would have wanted.” Jihyo argued. 

The room was quiet again. Dahyun saw Tzuyu make eye contact with her. She raised an eyebrow at Dahyun. Almost prompting her to speak.   
“Anyone want to start?” Jihyo asked. Her voice was certain. 

Tzuyu was still looking at Dahyun. This time with more focused eyes. She felt the pressure to talk. To step up and say something. Should she out herself? Should she out Sana? Sana’s pleading eyes begged her not to. Nothing was clear. She felt her throat tighten up. She felt her hand involuntarily rise. She had no control. She couldn’t stop. 

“I’m scared,” Mina’s frail voice filled the silence. All of the girls turned their head. “I’m sad and I’m scared. I miss Taeyeon, we all do. But why did someone do this to her?” Mina stuttered holding back tears. “She was always there for us, I just don’t get it.” 

“I think we all feel something similar Mina. You’re not alone. We’re here for you and you can talk to us about your feelings.” Jihyo reinforced. “But, why are you scared Mina?”

“That person is still out there. A person like that is dangerous and they haven’t been caught. We were there. What if…” Mina was consumed by tears. Momo pulled her in close and rubbed her back. 

Dahyun felt Caheyoung grip her shoulder. Mina and Chaeyoung were very close. At their first audition with this group, Mina was the first senior to talk to them. It seemed so natural. Mina just sat down beside her and Chaeyoung and started a conversation. Chaeng and Mina hit it off. It seemed like they were good friends catching up after not seeing each other for so long. 

They hungout before the show even got cast. Mina was often at Dahyun’s dorm drinking coffee with Chaeyoung. Mina was there for her during her first set of failed midterms. Chaeyoung tried to be there when Mina’s grandmother died. She knew how this amount of pain affected Mina. Dahyun knew seeing Mina like this was killing her. 

“I understand. That’s natural. We’re all here together.” Jihyo replied. 

“Besides, the police are investigating it. They’re going to make sure the person who did this gets caught,” Tzuyu added. It was the first time she had said anything. Her face was stern. Not showing any signs of emotion or vulnerability. 

Sana nodded her head. Dahyun watched as her shoulders relaxed and her eyes settled while Tzuyu was talking. She looked over to Dahyun and took deep breath before letting a light smile hit her cheeks. 

“Tzuyu has a point. I think we should take our energy and focus on this show,” Jihyo claimed. 

“It’s what she would have wanted. She always wanted us to be at our best,” Momo added.

“And she’d tear a strip off of us if she spent all of this money on the show and we slacked off.”

A light chuckle replaced the silence. Dahyun even felt herself smiling. The fond memories of Taeyeon filling her mind. 

“Now, we should get back to work. I can almost hear her telling us to stop fooling around,” Jihyo finished sparking laughter from the cast as they settled back into their seats and returned to their scripts. 

After what turned out to be a great rehearsal, the cast hung around chatting with each other. There she was. Sana was sitting there by herself browsing her phone. Now was her chance. Dahyun could sit down and talk to Sana after so long. She needed it. She felt her stomach turn at the thought of having this conversation. She forced herself to step forward. Her knees shook as she took each step. She was one conversation from going to the police and getting justice for Taeyeon. She felt it in her chest yet again. As she gingerly stepped forward, Sana lifted her head and saw Dahyun. Her eyes relaxed. It almost seemed as if she was relaxed to see her. 

“Hey,” Dahyun said as she sat down next to her. 

“Hey! That was a pretty great rehearsal right?” Sana asked. 

“Yeah!”

“I’m excited for this show. It looks like you are too”

“Of course I am,” Dahyun added. She felt her conversation going stale. She needed to get to the point. She felt herself get antsy in her seat. “So much has happened recently, we should hangout and talk about it.” Dahyun tried to keep her conversation candid. She didn’t know who was listening. She didn’t want to expose their relationship or their secret.   
“Hangout?” Sana looked up and around to see who was listening. “I’m kind of busy this week… Could we maybe take a look at next week? I haven’t even really looked at my schedule.” Sana dismissed the invitation. 

“Yeah for sure. Let’s do something next week.” Dahyun replied dropping her eyes to the floor. “Sana, this is important.” Dahyun brought her eyes back up to met Sana’s. “We need to-“ Dahyun was interrupted by Tzuyu’s presence. “Make sure we work hard on this show.” Dahyun tried to save herself. She almost let that slip while Tzuyu was there. 

“Yeah I agree. This is really important to me. We need to make it the best that we can,” Sana let out a weak smile.

“What are you two up to?” Tzuyu asked with mischief in her voice. 

“Just talking about the show and school,” Sana replied naturally. She was convincing. She never let on that more was going on behind the scenes. 

“That seems boring…” Tzuyu shrugged her shoulders before raising her eyebrows at Dahyun. Dahyun simply shrugged her shoulders in response. Not much to say. 

“Speaking of school, we got assigned our weekly journal updates today. I have to finish mine soon before I get too busy. I should get going.” Sana said before standing up. 

“You always were one for the boring life,” Tzuyu said dead-panned before standing up and heading the other way. 

Sana waved as she headed for the door. Just beyond that door she was going to be alone. Now was Dahyun’s opportunity to say something. They could finally talk in private. Dahyun could finally tell Sana how she was feeling. It felt like a now or never moment. She needed to take the opportunity and she needed to take it now. Dahyun’s heart was beating out of her chest. She felt the pressure set in. She wanted to go for it. She wanted to step forward. She wanted to follow her ‘not-girlfriend’ out of the door and finally address these issues. Her stomach turned. She felt her legs go numb. She wanted to take a step forward. She wanted to end this pain she faced. With every passing thought Sana was taking one step closer to the door. She felt her hands begin to tremble. Her knees shaking. She finally found the strength to open her mouth. Was this it? Would she finally be able to get herself to do the thing she’s wanted to do most for a week. Time was ticking. Dahyun finally got up from the bench and took a step forward. She placed her shaking hand and held her chest. This was it. Dahyun closed her eyes and got ready to call out to Sana. She took a deep breath.   
Slam.

The sound of the door closing behind Sana as she walked out was now the only thing Dahyun could hear. Dahyun opened her eyes to see herself facing a door. She felt her eyes burning up and her shoulders heavy. She was huffing. Her breathing was heavy and her throat felt like it was closing. She knew she was mad. She was mad at herself. No wonder she was sad. She was too weak to fix any of the problems that she faced in her life. She had the opportunity to fix the biggest problem in her life and literally watched as she walked out of the door. She didn’t deserve to be happy. She deserved all the pain she was facing. These thoughts plagued Dahyun’s mind. With each thought she felt herself closer to tears. Her chest was heavy. She felt her knees go weak and she fell back on to the bench. Dahyun looked up at the ceiling. Even though she missed her chance, her whole body was still shaking. Once shaking in fear, now she was shaking in anger. Her body was shocked into stasis with the touch of a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Chaeyoung. 

“Ready to get going? I have an early class tomorrow and want to get some sleep.” Chaeyoung asked with a soft voice. 

Dahyun didn’t respond. She simply stood up turned to her locker, grabbed her bag and headed for the door. No words spoken to Chaeyoung. She was too upset to speak. The only thing that was going through her head was the thought that she couldn’t take control of the things going on in her life. Dahyun heard Chaeyoung calling out to her to wait up. But she kept going. She pushed on through the door, out the auditorium, and to the street with Chaeyoung in tow. 

Much like the entire day. Dahyun was full of emotions but no words to express them.


	7. Misery Requires Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!
> 
> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out there. Things at work had picked up and I had to make sure I took care of those. Thank you everyone for your continued support! Please check out this story and as always leave some comments and kudos below!
> 
> You're in for a real treat in this chapter. Finally you get some closure... or do you.....
> 
> While we were gone, we got some awesome news about Jihyo dating Kang Daniel! Due to the updates in real time, we may or may not see them make an appearance in this story....

Dahyun didn’t remember making it back to the apartment. The only thing that she knew had happened for sure was that she almost slammed the door on Chaeyoung locking her out. She was standing in the middle of the living room. She still felt it in her chest. The anxiety and anger she felt towards herself since leaving the theatre had not gone away. Her hands were clenched in fists at her sides and she stood there breathing heavily. 

“Hey, are you okay? You didn’t say a single thing the entire walk home.” Chaeyoung asked, poking her head out of the kitchen. 

“I’m fine,” Dahyun snapped back. There was a low growl in her voice. A level of intensity that even surprised Dahyun.

“A little trouble in paradise?” Chaeyoung chuckled, clearly trying to lighten the mood. 

Dahyun simply turned to her with a glare. Didn’t say a word. Despite being angry, she knew she couldn’t risk saying anything that she would regret to Chaeyoung. She never vented out her problems. She didn’t want to put them on other people. 

She looked around the room. Her eyes fell on the window sill. As calming as it had been throughout the past week, she couldn’t fathom the idea of sitting there now. In the past she was able to sit there while upset, sad. She never thought of trying to sit there while angry. It didn’t help that the thought of sitting there and being forced to re-live everything about that day without being able to make a change, made her even more angry. She felt her arms shaking yet again. She wanted to be left alone. She didn’t want to think about this, and she didn’t want to talk to anyone. 

“I’m going to bed.” Dahyun breathed. She used this opportunity to get away from Chaeyoung. She dropped her bag in the living room and trudged down the hallway. She heard Chaeyoung saying something to her but she didn’t listen. She just kept heading forward to the isolation that she wanted. 

She made it into her room and slammed her door behind her. She didn’t even bother changing. She hit the light switch and climbed into her bed. She tossed and turned from side to side. She adjusted her pillows, and just rolled. She couldn’t get comfortable. She wanted to be alone, but it was not what she hoped. Being isolated from the rest of the world left her with her thoughts. She just wanted to forget everything that happened that day. She almost got called out by Jihyo, was forced to talk about Taeyeon, hide everything she knew and everything that tormented her, and was ignored by Sana. 

That was probably the thing that upset her the most. Sana, a person that Dahyun cared about and would stop at nothing to help would not give that same level of care back. She didn’t even try. It seemed like Sana didn’t care. A week before, they had watched their director and most influential parental figure murdered right in front of them and they hadn’t brought it up once. Sana kept avoiding her. Running away from the problem and left Dahyun to deal with it on her own. All she wanted was to talk about it, be on the same page. At least have one person she could feel comfortable, even in the slightest bit, to talk to about what happened. But no matter what, she couldn’t do anything. 

Dahyun gave up trying to get comfortable. Instead, she laid flat on her back and stared at the ceiling. She felt powerless. No matter what she did and how much she tried, nothing changed. The anger started to come back to her. Every time she had the opportunity to talk about something or fix her problem, she wimped out. Leaving her situation to torture herself. 

She felt useless. She thought back to that night yet again. Her feelings of anger turned to frustration, and then to guilt. The powerlessness she felt towards everything happening in her life made her wonder whether or not everything was her fault. When Taeyeon died she didn’t step in to save her. She felt tears form in her eyes. If she had just walked out of the bushes and said something Taeyeon would still be alive, she never would have gotten shot, and she wouldn’t have to keep running away from the problem. But just like at the theatre, she clammed up. She didn’t take control of her life and ruined everything. Powerless, weak, and useless, were the thoughts that clouded her head and made her tears stream down her cheeks. 

Her inability to take control and actually do something got Taeyeon killed, got herself shot, prevents her from talking about everything, keeps her awake at night, and lets Sana walk all over her. She hoped this was all a nightmare she was going to wake up from. That when she woke up in the morning she’d wake up to a text from Sana, her arm would be healed, she’d walk to school with Chaeyoung and carry on like she always had, and she’d go to a rehearsal where Taeyeon was waiting for them. 

She wanted change. She wanted to fix this problem. She wanted to talk to Sana but she was being avoided. She felt her hands start to twitch. She wanted to fix the problem. The feelings of guilt started to manifest into action. Before she knew it, she was reaching for her phone. The messages app was open and Sana’s contact sat at the top of the screen. Dahyun didn’t want to wallow in her own sadness anymore. Her frustration was pushing her to do something. She typed out a simple message. “Sana, we really need to talk.”  
Dahyun surprised herself in actually sending the message. After many trials and tribulations, she was finally able to take action. It felt good. It felt like she was regaining some level of control of her life. She only did one thing but it felt empowering. 

The phone in her lap lit up with a message notification. A message from Sana. Dahyun quickly picked up the phone and opened their conversation.  
“Sorry, I’ve gone to sleep! I’ll be sure to respond to your message in the morning.”

It was Sana’s autoreply message that she set for when she goes to bed. Dahyun felt defeated. She felt her emotions swinging from side to side so quickly. She felt exhausted. One minute she was angry, on the border of cursing out her best friend, the next she was laying in bed in tears, quickly flashing to high energy and hope, finishing with a crash. She was back to where she started. She felt the frustration well up in her chest. When she tried to take matters into her own hands and make things better, this happened. Something so small would get in her way. Stopped all the progress she made. Left her feeling miserable. Feeling angry. Feeling helpless. 

She grabbed her phone and raised it above her head. She had half a mind to throw it across the room slamming it on the door. Her arm was dropping. Right before she released the phone she paused. One thought reached her head. These minor things could only stop her from taking control of her life if she let them. In a split second she had a plan. She was finally going to take control. Her exhaustion and her frustration guided every step she took. She threw off the covers. She grabbed a light coat and stormed out of her bedroom door. She peered into the hallway. No one was there. Chaeyoung must have gone to bed. She slipped on a pair of sneakers and snuck out of the door without making a sound. She didn’t want to risk waking up Chaeyoung. She made it to the ground level and put herself on a bus. 

It took almost an hour to get there but she made it. She walked up to the door and didn’t see a way inside. She stepped back towards the street and pulled out her phone. She dialed the number she was looking for and waited. It felt like the phone was ringing forever. It rang all the way through. Dahyun knew she came this far. She wasn’t going to just walk away. She dialed the number again and waited. After four rings there was an answer on the other side. 

“Hello..?” a sleepy voice replied. 

“We need to talk.” Dahyun responded directly. 

“Dahyun, it’s late. Can we talk another time?” The voice replied with a yawn. 

“Sana this is important. I can’t wait.” 

“I don’t know what to say. My mind isn’t clear…”

“Sana I’m outside you’re building.” Dahyun interrupted coldly. 

“You’re what?” 

“I’m outside your building and it’s cold outside. Please let me in.”

“What? Okay, I’m coming.” 

Dahyun hung up the phone and waited. Within a minute Sana opened the door. She wasn’t lying about being in bed. She answered the door while wearing slippers and a long bathrobe. Dahyun walked in the open door and the two went up to Sana’s apartment. The two girls didn’t say a word until they made it inside. Sana and Dahyun kicked off their shoes and sat beside each other on the couch. 

The room was slightly tense. Dahyun couldn’t believe that she was sitting next to Sana. Sana wiped her eyes and tried to wake herself. Dahyun sat and started pulling at her fingers. She finally had Sana here. There was no running away. 

“So, you wanted to talk?” Sana asked. 

Dahyun needed that. She didn’t see herself starting the conversation. She needed the opportunity and she finally got it. She didn’t know where to start. She had so many thoughts. So many feelings she wanted to get out. 

“I feel terrible.” Dahyun blurted. It was almost involuntary. She wasn’t sure this is where she wanted to start but she was going to have to make it work. The one thing that was re-assuring is that she had Sana’s un-divided attention. “I haven’t slept in a week. Every night I go to bed and I toss and turn the entire night. When I do manage to fall asleep all I can see is that man in staring back at me with a gun to my forehead.”

“Dahyun, I-“

“It’s been hard. I’ve been hiding everything from everyone. I can’t talk to anyone about this. I can’t even talk to you. You’ve been avoiding me since everything happened. The one person I can talk to won’t talk to me.”

“I’m sorry.” Sana tried to cut in. 

“I thought that it would be because you were sad too. Things take time to heal and that’s fine. But every time I saw you, you were fine. You weren’t just fine, you were smiling and laughing with everyone.” Dahyun was ranting and she knew it. She couldn’t stop herself. She’d been holding on to these feelings for herself for so long. “I get it. I know we aren’t official and we aren’t dating. That’s fine. But as someone who experienced that with me, I would have hoped that you were there to talk to me.”

Dahyun felt fingers press against her lips. She turned to see Sana’s sad eyes looking back at her. Had what she said gotten to Sana? 

“Dahyun. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to distance myself from you.” Sana began. “The truth is I’m really not fine. I’ve also been struggling with it. I’ve just been trying to save face in front of everyone else. I should’ve been there to talk to you about this. I shouldn’t have hid from you and talked to you about this. It definitely would have helped you feel better, and it probably would have helped me feel better too.” 

In a quick motion Dahyun was pulled into a hug. Sana pulled Dahyun close to her chest and she felt a hand rubbing her back and drawing through her hair. All of the discomfort she felt melted away as she felt Sana play with her hair. 

Sana pulled away from her. The two sat there staring at each other. 

“Thank you. I really appreciate your apology.”

“I won’t run avoid you anymore. Did you want to make plans for this Friday? We haven’t had a movie night in a while.” Sana asked.

“Thank you, I’ll make sure I’m available to talk.” Dahyun responded with a sigh. “But I think there’s something I need to talk to you about.” 

Sana nodded her head in acknowledgement as she dropped the bathrobe. She was wearing short pajama shorts and a light pajama top. Dahyun felt a catch in her throat. She wanted to stop talking. She just wanted to look at Sana. But she couldn’t stop now. If she did then she’d never get to what she actually wanted to talk about. 

“Sana, we need to step forward.”

“What are you talking about? It’s too soon to start telling people about us.” 

“We need to go to the police.” Dahyun responded coldly. 

“This is why I was trying to avoid this conversation.” Sana stood up and stepped away from the couch. “I really didn’t want to fight about this.” 

“We shouldn’t be fighting about this. We need to step forward and let the police know what we saw.” 

“We can’t step forward.” Intensity was starting to build up in Sana’s voice. 

“Why not?”

“Coming forward ruins everything Dahyun. Trust me, it doesn’t help-“ 

“It can’t ruin everything!” Dahyun started to match Sana’s intensity. 

“It does!”

“This is for Taeyeon!”

“Why are you set on coming forward!?” Sana was yelling now. 

“Because of this!” Dahyun yelled back and pulled up her sleeve revealing her wound. Sana was taken aback by the sudden reminder of the horrors of that night.

“I, uh-“ Sana tried to respond but couldn’t. She took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch. She placed both of her hands on Dahyun’s face. “Dahyunnie,” she began with Dahyun’s nickname. “Listen, I want to be able to help Taeyeon too. But we don’t know exactly what happened. We didn’t have a clear view of what happened.”

Dahyun wanted to argue but Sana had a point. They didn’t even know it was Taeyeon until the police told them the next day. They didn’t have a view on the person. Didn’t know what they looked like. Didn’t really know how tall he was and didn’t even know what hair colour he had. 

“But Taeyeon…” 

“I know. It’s what we have to do. We want to help as well. But what we have doesn’t help anyone. It would probably make the process longer if they had to look into more information that didn’t lead anywhere.” Sana reasoned with Dahyun. 

Dahyun felt her breathing slow down as Sana’s hands were on her cheeks. She wanted to argue but felt so comfortable in this position. 

“Besides, you heard Tzuyu say it today. The police are already investigating it. They’re going to make sure that no matter what, they get the person who did this. If there wasn’t any investigation this would be a completely different story.” Sana said, tracing Dahyun’s cheek with her thumb. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right” Dahyun retreated. For the sake of the argument Dahyun didn’t want to push back. She didn’t want to tell Sana about what Sian had said. It could be information that was relevant. But Sana was right. The police were looking into it and if Dahyun came up with information that ended up not being relevant, the police would have wasted their time and delayed finding the true culprit. 

Despite giving up on her position, she felt comfortable. For the first time in so long, Dahyun could say that her and her ‘not-girlfriend’ were on the same page. Resting herself in Sana’s hands was so comfortable and familiar. It was something that she missed. 

“From here on out, I promise to make sure I’m there for you okay?” Sana re-assured Dahyun. “I promise to talk to you more in public. I think everyone has kind of normalized the fact that you and I are friends. No one will be suspicious of anything.” 

Dahyun nodded her head in response. She felt better for the most part. Some lingering thoughts and feelings still echoed in her head. She assumed that was normal.

“Dahyun, I’m sorry it took us this long to talk about this. I really care about you. I really care about us. I want to make sure this works.” Sana said. It was so caring but coming from her it sounded so seductive. 

Just hearing Sana say that she cared about them was enough to send Dahyun through a loop. All of her fears and doubts about them were gone with those sentences. In the week since everything happened, that’s all she wanted to hear from Sana. 

“I’m sorry too. I really care about you as well and I’m glad you want to make this work.” Dahyun smiled and pulled Sana in for yet another tight hug. 

As they pulled back Sana let out a deep yawn that was reciprocated by Dahyun. Sana slowly stood up and grabbed her bath robe. 

“I’m so sorry. I want to spend more time with you but I’m so exhausted.” Sana yawned. 

“Me too.” Dahyun replied. 

“You know, if you wanted to, you could spend the night here.” Sana hid behind her smirk. 

She was tempted. She could climb in bed beside Sana and cuddle until the morning comes. Stuck between her arms sounded like the most amazing place to be. It felt right. It felt like it was where she should be. Perhaps she could finally steal that kiss she was longing for. The thought of their lips pressing against one another was enough to make her moisten her lips. She wanted to go for it now. To run up to Sana and kiss her after they missed their opportunity. It wasn’t right though. As much as Dahyun wanted to kiss Sana, she didn’t want to do it in a time where they were emotionally vulnerable. Instead she wanted it to be a time where they both wanted it. 

She thought back to Chaeyoung and how she didn’t know Dahyun had left the house. If she stayed with Sana then that meant Chaeyoung would wake up to an empty apartment. If she did that, then she would go into a frenzy and start calling people. Maybe even the police. An amount of attention Dahyun didn’t want, especially when she didn’t need it. 

“I would, but I didn’t tell Chaeng I was leaving and I don’t want her to freak out when she wakes up and I’m not there.” Dahyun responded upset. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll see you Friday for sure then.” Sana said. The two embraced one more time before Sana called a cab for Dahyun. 

Dahyun sat in the backseat of the cab as it drove through the city streets. The streetlights shone into the cab in a pattern lighting up Dahyun’s field of view. The slow rumble of the car was somewhat soothing after everything she had to deal with. She finally got the opportunity to talk to Sana. She understood why stepping forward wasn’t smart. She finally got to hear Sana say she was concerned about her. The thought of Sana brought a smile to her face yet again. She was riding on a cloud that she didn’t think she’d ever fall from. Just knowing that she’d get to rest herself in Sana’s arms on Friday was enough to carry her through the rest of the cab ride home. 

Upon reaching home, Dahyun snuck through the door and back into her bedroom. She finally felt like she could fall asleep. After setting an alarm, she rested her head on her pillow. She felt herself slowly fading in and out of sleep, before slipping away. 

The time spent with Sana was helpful, but it wasn’t enough to keep the bad thoughts that plagued her dreams away. Almost hourly, the image of a man with a gun appeared in her dreams, except now it wasn’t just her that was in danger.

The dream that shocked her awake was horrifying. She was being held down and forced to watch as the gunman shot Sana right in front of her. She awoke with a cold sweat and shaking body. The hopes of getting a good night’s rest faded as the nightmares played on in her head over, and over again.


	8. Back to Normal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe every reader a huge apology. In the past month life has been crazy. I began training for a job where I did 12 hours a day for two weeks straight on top of moving and getting ready for school. That being said I am not willing to accept any of these as excuses. I felt like I should have let you know about the delays in the story in some way. In honour of that, I made sure to prepare a long chapter for you all today.
> 
> I would like to let everyone know that the next chapter may not come out for another little bit. I am in the process of preparing for a very big exam and will not have as much time to continue to develop the story. I promise to have a quicker turn around rate than I did for this chapter and to continue to bring the next addition to the story. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading, keeping up, and anticipating the next chapter. I feel so blessed to have a following that is dedicated to the story.
> 
> I hope that this hasn't served as a reason to stop reading the story, I hope that you still want to enjoy the story. I feel so blessed that we are here together as ONCE.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP

Dahyun was woken by her alarm after another night of screaming night terrors. She lifted her head from her pillow and tensed her eyes. Her head was still pounding. She was exhausted. No matter how much sleep she tried to get, she was woken up by the sounds of gunshots and people dying. 

After minutes of trying to wake herself up, she finally managed to roll herself out of bed and sneak into the washroom. 

It had been two weeks since her and Sana finally talked. They finally agreed to stop ignoring each other and actually spend time with each other. The other thing Dahyun wanted was to step forward. No matter how hard she tried to get Sana to change her mind, she wouldn’t. With one flick of her wrist, and a gentle caress of her face, Dahyun was at Sana’s mercy. Although she couldn’t get everything that she had wanted, one out of the two would have to be good enough for now. 

As she stepped out of her pajamas, she turned on the hot water and got into the shower. She washed her hair and thought about everything she had to deal with. If getting no sleep, dealing with nightmares, and the crippling anxiety that came with the wound in her arm wasn’t enough, she had a full day ahead of her. She had to sit through a three-hour lecture in her ethics course, get ready for rehearsal, and go to the hangout that the girls had organized. Just the thought of doing everything made her feel exhausted. She stepped out of the shower and into her outfit. She hadn’t even stepped out of the door and she already wanted the day to be over. 

After brushing her teeth and throwing on her sweater, Dahyun was ready to head out the door. She walked out into the living room and put on her shoes. She looked down to see Chaeyoung’s shoes missing. Dahyun wondered if Chaeyoung had left while she was in the shower. They usually walked to class together every day even if their classes weren’t around the same time. Dahyun knew Chaeyoung had an earlier class today but it just seemed different. Since she had talked to Sana, things with Chaeyoung had been different. Chaeyoung would crack jokes but they would be a lot less frequent. She seemed a lot colder. Their conversations were shorter, and the apartment was a lot quieter after class and after rehearsal. Their walks home were full of small talk instead of the conversations best friends would have. Instead, Chaeyoung would make light conversation before turning into her room back at their apartment. Just thinking about it made Dahyun upset. She didn’t know what happened. It felt like it all changed in one day. She had a best friend the first and lost her the second. It all came to light on the walk to campus by herself. Despite having Sana back in her life, she felt more alone than she did when they weren’t talking. Dahyun let out a sigh as she turned a corner and made it on to campus. Maybe she’d talk to Chaeng about it to try to figure this out. Yet another thing to add to the list of things that she had to do. She managed to make it to her class in the nick of time before pulling out her books and getting ready to listen.  
Lectures in ethics, although interesting, were hard enough to follow on their own. Adding on a monotonous professor and a wandering mind didn’t help anything at all. No matter how hard she tried to stay focused on what the professor was talking about, she just kept thinking about all of the things that she needed to do. At this point, she didn’t even know if she was looking forward to dinner with everyone. Even though that meant she got to hangout with Sana, it meant that she had to keep her mind working and functioning instead of hiding in her room or sitting on that window sill again. Thirty minutes of lecture had gone by and she had only written down half a page worth of notes. She stared down at her book and let out a deep breath. 

Her mind drifted away again. She wondered when she would get her life back. When she would be able to just enjoy her time with Sana. When she would be able to go home to her best friend and have good times like they used to. A time where she could perform shows with her castmates and be able to do it without the darkness of Taeyeon’s death looming over the production. She felt like she was at the point where she would sell her soul if she could finally let all of this behind and let things be normal again. She felt her hands shaking. Her anxiety was welling up in her stomach. No matter how brief she thought about Taeyeon, her body started shaking. It was always the gateway to thinking about how she became witness to a murder, got shot, and had her life changed forever. To try to fight off the anxiety she dropped her pen on her desk and started pulling at her fingers. She didn’t know why, but it seemed like it was the only thing that would calm her down when she wasn’t in the apartment. At least she had the window sill when she was home. 

By the time that her hands stopped shaking, the professor had called a break. An hour had gone by and Dahyun still only had a half of a page worth of notes. She slammed her notebook shut as hard as she could to avoid drawing attention to herself. In what seemed like a divine intervention, her phone started to buzz from her pocket. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Dahyun saw that it was her bank. Confused, she quickly packed her bag and stepped out of the class to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Dahyun asked into her phone. 

“Hello, is this Miss Kim?” the person on the other line replied. 

“It is… Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I’m calling from the National Bank. I wanted to confirm that you are approving this limit increase on your credit card.”

“Sorry?”

“Increasing the limit on your credit card?” The voice responded confused. 

“I never approved any limit increase on my credit card.” Dahyun responded. She wasn’t sure what the person on the other line was talking about. She never played around with her finances. She didn’t want to risk messing things up. 

“We got a call from someone yesterday who approved a limit increase on your credit card.” The voice responded coldly. “We would like to make sure we can go ahead and do this.”

“I don’t remember ever-“

“What is your credit card number?” The voice cut her off. “If you tell that to us we will be able to confirm your account.”

Dahyun was suspicious. This person on the other line cut her off and demanded her credit card number. It sounded like every credit card scam that ever existed. The only way to respond to this was by using the advice her parents gave her when she moved away to the university. 

“I’ll go into my local branch to check it out.” Dahyun responded. 

“No need to waste your time doing that. If you just tell us-“ 

“I will go into my local branch thank you!” Dahyun said firmly and ended the call. She dropped the phone from her ear and looked up at the sky. She took another deep breath. Even though she was sure it was just a scam, she felt like she needed to go double check with the bank and let them know about the phone call she had received. 

Looking back to the lecture hall, she saw her classmates returning from break. The thought of going back to class made her shake her head and roll her eyes. She thought about just going to the bank after class, but she couldn’t muster the thought of going back into the classroom. If there was any opportunity to skip class, this was it. A troubling call from a person imitating the bank was as good enough excuse as she was going to get. Instead of going back into the lecture hall, she grabbed her bag and left for the bank. 

The bank was busy. People were running around the bank carrying forms from behind the counter out to the offices and vice versa. Dahyun looked around the bank shocked in the amount of movement. She slowly made her way into the line and waited. Everyone running around the room seemed worried about something. It was unsettling. It was like Dahyun was in a movie. People were rushing back and forth across the bank, popping into offices, asking questions and running back. The sound of the clerk calling her forward brought her back to the present. 

“What can I help you with Miss?” The clerk asked in a quick pace. His eyes were narrowed on Dahyun but regularly drifted away from her and to the rest of the commotion around her. 

“Oh, I just wanted to check my accounts and make sure everything is supposed to be the way it should be…” Dahyun didn’t really know what to ask for and her lack of real-world knowledge was coming through. 

“Okay… That’s very broad, is there a specific account you would like to look at?” He pushed. 

“The one attached to my credit card. I just wa-“

“Did you get a phone call?” The clerk asked, focusing on Dahyun. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it was actually from you guys.” Dahyun apologized profusely. 

“It wasn’t. We’ve had almost all of our clients get a phone call like that today. Something about upping your limit?”

“Yeah actually.” 

Dahyun let out a sigh of relief that she trusted her gut instinct not to give out her personal information over the phone. The clerk leaned closer over the desk and began speaking quietly. 

“That’s why everyone is running around like crazy here. I think they hacked our database but couldn’t get into the encrypted files that had banking information. Everyone is trying to gather information to give it over to the police.” The clerk said before leaning back and sitting himself properly in his chair. 

These people knew they were supposed to go to the police and were doing everything necessary to make sure that they could help. That itch to go to the police began to rise to the surface yet again. She felt her hands shake. She jammed them in her pockets in any attempt to keep it from showing. 

“But rest assured, all of your information is protected, and nothing is wrong with your accounts.” The clerk said with a smile on his face. 

“Okay thank you,” Dahyun responded before walking away from the table. She was just thankful that she was able to keep her information protected and didn’t run the risk of someone getting ahold of her bank accounts.  
As she neared the exit, she heard a familiar voice coming from inside one of the offices. With the door slightly open, she was able to hear the voice clearly from the other side. 

“So you’re telling me I can’t get a loan?” The voice called out. 

Dahyun angled her head to see through the crack in the doorframe. Mark was sitting in a chair right across from a loan officer.

“Sir I’m sorry, but with the history you have of missing payments I can’t give you this loan.” The clerk on the other end said. 

“Without that loan I won’t be able to pay the bills and provide for my kid.” Mark argued. 

“Sir I-“

“My wife is dead. Did it really have to come to me saying that? Things have not been easy.” 

“I don’t think I can. You don’t have any other support?”

“It turns out she never took out life insurance. Nothing. I have nothing!” His voice was shaking. It was hard to tell if he was mad, on the verge of tears, or both. 

Dahyun slowed her breathing. If there was anything she could do to keep herself silent, she wouldn’t hesitate to do it. She was shocked. Things were way worse off than what Dahyun believed. Their fighting was surprising but the fact that they were in debt was shocking. Taeyeon never let anything on. It always seemed like everything was fine. The way Taeyeon would shine at every rehearsal, and the excitement she shared when she bought the rights to this year’s show, you would have never known they were pinching pennies. 

Dahyun thought quickly to Mark’s comment. He seemed surprised that Taeyeon didn’t have life insurance. For being married to her, it seemed like he didn’t really know what was going on. Life insurance seemed like a big deal. Especially as something for married couples to talk about. Something about that comment just didn’t sit right with her.

“I’ll talk to my supervisor and bring her into this conversation.” The clerk said.

Dahyun heard the sound of the wheels on the chair roll backwards and the sound of high heels clicking on the tiled floor. She quickly jumped back from the door and continued her way out of the door and over to the exit.  
The walk to rehearsal was like a blink of an eye. She was overwhelmed. Thinking about all of the things that she had to do, the scam artists taking over the town, and what she had just heard Mark say. Every time she thought about what he said, her stomach dropped. Things just weren’t adding up. They weren’t making sense. 

Her mind turned to the worst. Could he have done it? Could Mark have been that man on the beach? Could he have been the one who killed his own wife? The one who shot Dahyun in the arm? The one man who turned everyone’s life on a head? Thinking about it made her stomach drop and her hands shake. There’s no way. It couldn’t be true. They’re married, they love each other, they have a kid together. He was always there for her. Dahyun thought back to what Sian said. They’d been fighting a lot recently. He was always there for her, when they weren’t fighting. But the fighting was so un-characteristic of them. Did something happen? Was this just another string of things she needed to keep to herself and hide from everyone else? Time and time again she was left with all of the pieces and felt the need to put them together. 

Dahyun fiercely shook her head and walked into the school’s auditorium. She felt upset with herself. She let these thoughts take over her mind. She almost let herself believe that Mark was the one to do it. The person who looked after the cast when Taeyeon had to step out. She tried to snap out of the thought and walked straight into the dressing room. 

Inside, Jihyo was waiting. She waved at Dahyun with a bright smile and gestured with her hand to call her over. 

“I’m glad you made it here a bit early!” Jihyo exclaimed. “Everyone who is supposed to be at this rehearsal is already here. If we start early, we can end a bit early and get to the evening festivities quickly.” Jihyo shimmied her shoulders back and forth in a bit of a dance. 

“Yeah, for sure!” Dahyun said with bright eyes and a fake smile. 

“Perfect, we should get started then.” Jihyo walked over to the green room and called the others out. 

Out of the room walked Momo and Jeongyeon. This rehearsal called for the scenes that only involved their characters. It was bound to have low attendance. Usually everyone would attend every rehearsal, but being a few weeks into the school year, assignments were already popping up. After exchanging hugs, the girls walked out onto the stage.

It was clear that Jihyo knew what she was doing. Even though she spent most of her time playing the front runner, she was clearly putting everything Taeyeon taught her to good use. She just seemed to know how to make every scene work and how to bring out the best in everyone. She knew how to get down to the core of their emotions and make each scene powerful. When she had to step up to the plate, Dahyun had her scene with Momo. Their characters had to share some intimate tension. In the grand scheme of the play, their characters were in love but too scared to tell each other. Even though they never had anything close to that, Jihyo’s stage directions helped make it seem like that was their reality. 

Their scene finished off with a hug that seemed more passionate than just one of supporting friends. As they drew back from their hug, Momo pulled Dahyun in for one more hug as a congratulations. Jihyo walked over the stage clapping her hands.  
“That was beautiful! You two are brilliant!” Jihyo said placing her hands on their shoulders. 

“That was so much fun! I really like performing that scene!” Momo exclaimed rubbing Dahyun’s shoulder.

Jeongyeon did the same as she mounted the stage and walked over to the two actors. 

“And with that, I think it is safe to say we are wrapping this rehearsal up.” Jihyo packed her script and director’s notes back into her bag. “Great work today everyone! We’re all going today right?”

“I’m hosting so I would hope I’m there.” Jeongyeon said before turning her eyes over to Dahyun and Momo. Both girls nodded their head.

“Perfect, I will see you all there then!” Jihyo said. All of the girls exited the stage and parted ways to get ready for their hangout at Jeongyeon and Nayeon’s apartment.

After an exhausting walk home and a quick wardrobe change, Dahyun was in front of Jeongyeon’s building. She changed into a pair of leggings, socks and sandals, and kept her big sweater. Although she thought about backing out while she was changing, she genuinely enjoyed that their hangouts were all about dressing comfortably. She had to make her way over to Jeongyeon’s apartment by herself. That day Chaeyoung was on babysitting duty with Nayeon so they would all just meet at the apartment.  
Dahyun made her way up the elevator and to the door of the apartment. Before she even got the opportunity to knock Nayeon opened the door and greeted her with her bunny-toothed smile. 

“Dahyunnie! Come on!” She threw her arms around Dahyun’s neck with a slight giggle. Dahyun could smell the wine on Nayeon’s breath. Nayeon herself was already a giddy person, with a bit of wine mixed in she became the world’s friendliest person. After she released her grip on Dahyun, she grabbed her hand and led her into the apartment. Inside Jihyo was standing in the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand, Mina was talking to her, Momo and Sana were sitting on the couch, Chaeyoung was opening a bag of chips, Tzuyu was texting someone, and Jeongyeon had stepped out of the washroom. All of the girls waived at Dahyun greeting her. She didn’t realize she was the last one there. Jihyo grabbed her wine glass and led Mina over to the other couch where they sat down. 

Dahyun caught her eye. Sana was smiling at her. But it wasn’t just any smile. It was like the smile they used to give to each other when they first started this whole ‘girlfriend not girlfriend’ thing. It was warming. Her cheeks were puffed out and her eyes looked like they were shining. Dahyun couldn’t help but smile back. Her heart felt warm. It was like that quick gesture was enough to make all of her worries melt. Lucky enough for her, she got to sit beside her. Momo hopped up from the couch and dragged Dahyun to sit beside her. She ended up getting dropped in between Sana and Momo. 

“My honey!” Momo exclaimed before planting a kiss on her cheek and hugging her tightly. “If only I could just confess my love for her” Momo was reciting lines from the show. It felt weird. Her fake girlfriend was sitting beside her and her for real ‘not girlfriend.’  
Dahyun turned to face Sana. Sana narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. Needless to say, she was confused. There was no way that Sana believed Dahyun was two-timing her. Sana raised her eyebrows, almost like she was waiting for an explanation. An explanation she couldn’t give in front of everyone. 

“Momo, it’s okay to lay off the rehearsing a bit. We’re just here to enjoy tonight.” Jihyo called out as she placed her wine glass down on the table and grabbing the remote to the TV.

“I know, I know, that scene is just too much fun!” Momo said, releasing Dahyun from her grip. 

“Have we picked a movie yet, or are we just going to sit around and think about it?” Chaeyoung called out. She grabbed a seat in front of the couch where Mina was sitting. 

“We should watch a horror movie!” Nayeon called out. “That way it gives me a reason to cuddle up to Jeong” she giggled. 

“Alright, that’s enough wine for you!” Jeongyeon said, taking the glass out of her hand and putting it beside her. 

“There’s a funny movie that just got added here.” Mina spoke quickly. Surely she was trying to suggest anything that wasn’t a horror movie. 

“I could go for a good laugh,” Sana said as she pulled the blanked up and offered to share it with Dahyun. Without much hesitation, Dahyun slipped under the blanket and felt Sana’s free hand grab on to hers.  
Dahyun nodded, after feeling the contact with Sana’s hand. 

“That should be great” Dahyun agreed. 

One by one, the other girls seemed to think that the suggestion was a good one and they selected the movie. Dahyun felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out to find a text message from Tzuyu. 

“Nice one, real smooth.” Dahyun lifted her head and looked to see Tzuyu smirking at her. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Dahyun replied via text.

“mhm”

Dahyun placed her phone back in her pocket and turned her eyes back to the TV. 

Momo stood up and turned off the lights. The only thing illuminating the room was the movie playing in front of them. 

One thing that Dahyun was grateful for was that she and her ‘not girlfriend’ were a part of a theatre company. In many theatre groups, the castmates were like family and the idea of physical touch was normal. Dahyun looked across the room. Nayeon was practically sitting in Jeongyeon’s lap, Mina was playing with Chaeyoung’s hair, and Jihyo tucked her feet up on the couch and laid her head on Mina’s shoulder.

Looking around and taking the opportunity, she placed her head on Sana’s shoulder. From under the blanket, Sana took her arm and placed it around Dahyun’s. Dahyun took her hands and wrapped them around Sana’s waist. She felt comfortable. It was the first time that Dahyun had felt comfortable since before everything happened. It felt right, it felt warm. Sana was tracing her fingers around Dahyun’s shoulder and it was driving her mad. It tickled, but not so much that it was bad.

All of the sudden she felt a sensation coming from her hair. With a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, she could see Momo playing with her hair. She was living the dream. She was being cuddled by Sana and having someone else play with her hair. She was at peace. She wished she could stay like this forever. With each time the movie cracked a joke, the girls bounced up and down but Sana never let her grip weaken. Right now, she knew that she had her back. 

She wished she could stay like this forever. She really didn’t want to move. She was so comfortable she almost didn’t notice herself falling in and out of sleep. She felt her head bob over and over again until she couldn’t feel it. 

She felt herself hit the dream scape. That was at least until the lights were back on and everyone was standing up and putting on their shoes. At some point, she fell had fallen asleep and missed the rest of the movie. Through tired eyes she looked on to Chaeyoung who was shaking her up. 

“Dahyun lets go. You fell asleep” she laughed as she attempted to pull Dahyun off of the couch. 

Dahyun managed to make it to her feet. She felt rested for once. It was the first time in weeks that she had fallen asleep for longer than an hour or two without getting any nightmares. 

“Comfortable?” Jeongyeon asked as she helped guide Dahyun to the door. 

Dahyun simply smiled and nodded her head in response. Falling asleep next to Sana would without a doubt make her happy. After saying their goodbyes, Sana, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung got into a cab and began heading to Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s place to drop them off. Chaeyoung jumped into the front passenger seat leaving the couple together in the back seat. 

Sana simply brushed Dahyun’s hair back with her hand and let her head drop onto her shoulder. They waited out the ride home until Chaeyoung led Dahyun back up the stairs again. Sana made sure to say her good byes and sped off in the cab.  
As the two made it through the door, Dahyun kicked off her sandals and looked back to Chaeyoung. 

“Chaeng, everything okay?” She muttered through the exhaustion and clouded thoughts. 

“Everything okay with you?” Chaeyoung responded. 

Dahyun stopped herself from responding instantly. She needed to make sure she didn’t let anything slip while she was in this state of exhaustion. Instead of responding verbally, Dahyun nodded her head. 

“Then I guess everything is fine then. Goodnight, get some sleep would you?” Chaeyoung said before stepping into her room and closing the door. 

Dahyun stumbled into her room and made it back under the covers. As her head hit the pillow, she lost all feeling of comfortability. She recognized her isolation. She tossed and turned for hours before finally getting to fall asleep. A sleep that was interrupted by nightmares. 

The only thing that managed to keep her calm was the thought of falling asleep in Sana’s arms. She wished she’d asked Sana to stay the night with her. It was the best sleep that she’d had in weeks. Holding on to that memory cradled Dahyun to sleep. She wasn’t able to escape the nightmares, but she was able to keep herself asleep. What worried her is the possibility that her mind was so used to the nightmares she was having. The feeling of a gun placed against her head, the sound of a shot, or forced to watch as Sana was shot. 

The most disturbing of everything that night, was when the dream changed yet again. Every few times she was forced to watch it happen, Chaeyoung was the one pointing the gun at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe every reader a huge apology. In the past month life has been crazy. I began training for a job where I did 12 hours a day for two weeks straight on top of moving and getting ready for school. That being said I am not willing to accept any of these as excuses. I felt like I should have let you know about the delays in the story in some way. In honour of that, I made sure to prepare a long chapter for you all today.
> 
> I would like to let everyone know that the next chapter may not come out for another little bit. I am in the process of preparing for a very big exam and will not have as much time to continue to develop the story. I promise to have a quicker turn around rate than I did for this chapter and to continue to bring the next addition to the story. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading, keeping up, and anticipating the next chapter. I feel so blessed to have a following that is dedicated to the story.
> 
> I hope that this hasn't served as a reason to stop reading the story, I hope that you still want to enjoy the story. I feel so blessed that we are here together as ONCE.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP


	9. Toddler's Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!
> 
> I apologize once again for the very late update. In terms of life updates: I wrote that big exam I have been talking about for months and it is finally over. School is also happening and am trying my best to manage writing these chapters while keeping up with both school and work. I promise you all I will find a better balance and will try for more regular updates.
> 
> I'm blessed that you folks are interested in the story and come back to it no matter what. While I was gone we hit 1000. I am so blessed to have a story reach that many reads. Thank you so much, each and every one of you. This is starting to feel like a dream come true, and it wouldn't happen without you. 
> 
> As always, please leave comments and feedback in the comment section. It warms my heart to see these messages and pushes me to continue.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP

Her head bobbed as she propped herself up on the couch. After another sleepless night, Dahyun was struggling to keep her eyes open. With each deep breath, she felt her shoulders rise and fall at a slow rhythm. Something in her head told her that if she slowed her breathing it would keep her awake. At this point she figured she would be used to this. It had been almost a month since everything happened. She thought that her body would have adjusted to the inability to sleep and she wouldn’t feel like she was constantly under water. She couldn’t risk falling asleep right now. She wanted to hide the fact that she wasn’t doing well, but more importantly, she wanted to make sure she was properly taking care of Sian. 

Babysitting duty. This time Dahyun had the morning shift. She forced herself out of bed and made her way to Mark’s house. She was the first one to get there. As she arrived Mark ran out the door in a panicked hurry once again. Something about not wanting to be late for something. She wasn’t entirely sure what he was talking about, she was too exhausted. She remembered he said to call him if anything went wrong and never to pick up the phone at the house. Inside she found Sian wide awake playing with his cars yet again. He was driving them back and forth on the ground. He greeted Dahyun with a cheer and much like the first time, gave her a hug, planting his face into her thighs. He returned to his cars and told Dahyun to sit on the couch.

Having been planted there for almost a half an hour, she was surprised when someone plopped down on the couch beside her. It couldn’t have been Sian, the couch bounced way too much for someone who was as small as him. 

“Wow you’re really out of it. I guess you need this coffee more than I thought!” Momo said as she placed a coffee cup in Dahyun’s hand.   
She didn’t even hear her come in the door or Sian react to her. As much as Sian loved talking to Dahyun and his proclaimed favourite Jihyo, Momo was up there too.   
“Oh thanks. I didn’t know you were bringing coffee” Dahyun yawned as she leaned back into the couch and took a sip.   
“Well it sounds like you needed one Dahyunnie” Momo laughed while sitting beside her. 

This wasn’t the first time Momo had done something really nice for her. Ever since they rehearsed their scene together for the first time, Momo had been talking to Dahyun a lot more. Whether it was at rehearsal, on campus, or text message, Dahyun found she was talking to Momo. It wasn’t like it was a bother. It was nice to get to know her better. Although they were friends before, during last year’s show they didn’t talk all that much outside of cast parties or gatherings.   
“How is he doing?” Momo asked she laid her head on Dahyun’s shoulders. 

“So far so good. He’s been pretty occupied by his cars since I got here.”

“Mark rush out-“

“Dad!” Sian corrected Momo.

“Did Dad rush out in hurry again this morning?” 

“Yeah he did.” Dahyun responded. 

“He’s run out on everyone who’s started babysitting. He rushes out and speeds down the road. I wonder what’s up with him…” Momo trailed off.   
Dahyun bit on her tongue. Everything she had seen and heard Mark say made everything about this difficult. What she overheard at the funeral, his odd behavior, Sian telling Dahyun Mark and Taeyeon fought, and seeing Mark at the bank. She was the only one who knew about all of these things. She couldn’t let on that she knew more than what she showed. But Momo was staring at her. It seemed like she was expecting her to say something in response. Not knowing what to do, she just opened her mouth,  
“Can someone play with me? I have a special car just for them.” Sian pleaded while holding up one of his toy cars.   
“I would be glad to,” Dahyun said as she shifted towards the front of the couch.

“No, I want Momo,” Sian giggled as he toddled over to Momo and handed her the car. 

“Well all you had to do was say so.” Momo giggled as she laid down on the floor. “Sorry Dahyunnie” she winked. 

Dahyun was fine with it. She wasn’t too upset about it. It just meant that she was able to relax on the couch longer. She tucked her feet up on the couch and pulled her knee up into her chest. It was a bit of tranquility. She could feel herself getting comfortable. She could feel herself dozing off once again. It wasn’t as comfortable as she had felt when she fell asleep in Sana’s arms, but it had to do for now. She especially wouldn’t complain if that meant she could fall asleep. 

Once again she felt her body go light. Her dreams were neutral. They weren’t scary dreams. In fact, they started to feel warm. She was dreaming of sitting in her apartment. She was back in the window sill in her apartment. She felt warm. For some reason she felt very proud, very warm. She didn’t know exactly why. Things just felt right. She didn’t know how to react to it. Even in her dream. Dream Dahyun must have also known about the stress that real life Dahyun had faced. She placed her head against the glass. Even the glass felt warm. Her mind was clear, just like in real life. The window sill seemed to help her even in her dreams. She felt herself smile. The sun was setting over the city skyline painting the sky in a beautiful mix of orange and purple. Dahyun heard someone call her name over her shoulder. She turned to see all of her castmates gathering around the table. They were all wearing white gowns that fell just above their knees. Sana was wearing the same gown but in black. 

“Dahyun! Come on dinner is ready!” Chaeyoung motioned her forward. 

“If we have to wait any longer the food is going to get cold!” Jihyo laughed while placing a plate of food down on the table. 

Dahyun stepped down from the window ledge. She looked down and saw she was wearing a black gown, the same as Sana. She sat down at the table. She watched as other members took food and ate together. They were having conversation and laughing. Dahyun couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she could tell they were all happy. Something Dahyun hadn’t seen since everything happened. Sana was smiling and laughing too. She was just as beautiful in Dahyun’s dreams as she was in real life. The way her hair fell to the side of her face. The way her eyes shone in the light was borderline ethereal. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to her left to see Momo.   
“Dahyun, we have to get some food” Momo said as she placed her hand on Dahyun’s shoulder. 

Dahyun nodded her head and reached for the tongs to grab some meat. She felt another shake on her shoulder. 

“Come on Dahyunnie”

Dahyun, perplexed didn’t know how to respond to what was happening. 

“Okay Dahyun, get up” Momo said softly. 

Dahyun opened her eyes slowly. She took a deep breath and for the first time since falling asleep on Sana, felt rested. The first thing she was Momo’s soft smile looking right at her. She lifted her head and found that she was lying down on a pillow with a blanket draped over her. She quickly sat up on the couch. 

“Welcome back my honey,” Momo said as she drew her fingers through her Dahyun’s hair. “You fell asleep so I figured I could help you get comfortable”

“Thank you” Dahyun responded. It must have been Momo who laid her down with a pillow and blanket. She looked around the living room. It was closer to the middle of the day. The light was shining through the front window illuminating the room. She quickly looked around for Sian. His favourite car was still on the ground but he was nowhere to be found. “Where is Sian?” Dahyun asked with concern in her voice.

“After seeing you taking a nap, he decided he wanted to go for one himself” Momo laughed. “He said he was hungry so I promised him we would have lunch for him when he woke up.” 

Dahyun nodded her head. She lifted herself off of the couch and stood next to Momo. 

“So, we’re going to make him lunch?” Dahyun asked while wiping her eyes. 

“For just waking up, you’re pretty sharp!” Momo laughed as she grabbed Dahyun by the hand and led her into the kitchen.  
With soup boiling on the stove, Dahyun pulled bowls out of the cupboard and placed them down on the table. She put out the cutlery she needed and put them with the bowls. Dahyun looked back in the kitchen to see Momo stirring the pot of soup. Momo happened to turn her head and caught Dahyun’s eye. She smiled wide showing her pearly whites. She danced her hips side to side as she stirred the pot. 

“The table is all set,” Dahyun said as she made her way into the kitchen. “Do you want me to do anything to help you?”

“I think we are all set here the shine in my eye,” Momo rehearsed once again. “If you could just go get Sian that would be great.” 

Dahyun headed down the hall to Sian’s room. She slowly pushed open the door to find the sleeping toddler. As she tip toed through the room she looked around. It was typical of how a toddler’s room might be decorated. There were colourful images on the walls and their were toys organized on shelves. She saw drawings sprawled out on the ground. There were a few that had three stick people all together. One short, and two tall people. One of them with long hair. Among these pictures were ones with just the woman. Dahyun figured that was supposed to be Taeyeon. Seeing the pictures made her heart sink. It was heart warming that Sian was drawing pictures of her, but heart breaking that Dahyun was forced to watch what happened. 

Not paying attention, Dahyun slipped on another picture and almost lost her footing. Looking down at the picture, she saw the family picture with one other figure. This person was dressed in all black. He stood behind the other three people. Dahyun wondered to herself, was this the ‘other man’ Sian talked about the first time she had babysat him. Was this the person that sparked Mark and Taeyeon’s fighting? 

Without fail, Dahyun’s mind fell to the worst conclusion. The only thought that began to fill her head was whether or not this ‘other man’ was involved with what happened at the beach. Was he the reason that Mark was saying he was issues with money?

Dahyun shook furiously shook her head and forced herself to remember the task at hand. She walked up to Sian’s bed and placed her hand on his shoulder to wake him up. With a touch of her hand on his shoulder he was burning up. She lightly shook him. He awoke with a whine.

“Come on Sian, lunch is ready for you,” Dahyun hummed. 

Sian shook his head before leaning up. His face looked pale. 

“Nuh uh,” he protested before trying to lay back down. 

“If we don’t go eat now it is going to get cold.”

“My head and my tummy hurts,” Sian whined, placing a hand on his stomach. “I’m not hungry.”

It looked like he was telling the truth. He looked pale and it looked like there beads of sweat starting to fall down from his forehead.

“Okay Sian, can we try eating? Just a little bit, then you can come lay down again okay?” Dahyun tried to persuade him. 

He simply shook his head in response. 

“What if I read you a story after lunch?” She bargained. 

“Okay Dahyunnie,” he agreed and slowly lifted himself out of bed. 

Dahyun led him back to the dining room and got him sat down in his chair. Momo brought out the pot of soup and filled his bowl. It seemed fine at first but Dahyun started to feel concerned. Sian was swaying his head from side to side with drooping eyes. 

“Okay Sian, have a bite buddy” Momo prompted as she sat down beside him. Sian barely reacted to the prompt. Momo then grabbed a spoon and tried to feed him the bite. He barely swallowed it before bursting out into tears. Momo simply turned and looked to Dahyun, hoping she would know what to do. 

“Sian what’s wrong? Why are you crying” Dahyun asked.

“My tummy hurts” Sian sputtered before finally finishing the sentence. He kept crying in his chair. 

In an instinctual move, Dahyun reached for her phone and dialed Mark’s number. The phone started ringing. After three rings she hoped that Mark would pick up the phone. 

“What’s going on?” Momo asked as she was rubbing Sian’s back trying to calm him down. 

“I don’t know… He didn’t answer” Dahyun said as she dropped the phone to her side.

“Call him again,” Momo said as she picked up Sian and brought him to the couch and laid him down. 

Dahyun dialed the number again and waited. After two rings she wondered if he wouldn’t pick up again. Then she heard it. Something about it seemed off. The line picked up on the other side. She heard a lot of commotion and people talking. 

“Quiet, quiet down,” Mark said before going back to Dahyun. “Hey Dahyun, what do you need?” he asked so casually. He must have thought she didn’t hear what was going on where he was. 

“Oh, is everything okay where you are?” Dahyun asked, concern in her voice. 

“I’m not sure what you mean. What do you need Dahyun?” Mark asked, placing more emphasis on the question. Dahyun was certain that he was avoiding talking about where he was. 

“I think Sian is sick, he woke up from his nap with a fever and doesn’t want to eat anything” Dahyun said calmly, trying to hide her concern. “We tried to give him some soup and he wouldn’t do eat.” 

“Oh, I was hoping he was over this sickness. He seemed okay this morning before I left.” Mark explained. “There should still be some medicine in the cabinet for him to take. Give him some of that and just put him down for a nap.”

“Oh okay, so-“

“Thank you Dahyun!” Mark abruptly hung up the phone. She was shocked how Mark was being on the phone. Hearing whimpering coming from the other room, Dahyun ran in and told Momo about the medicine. Without hesitation, Momo ran out to the cupboard and grabbed Sian’s medicine. She brought it back to him and helped him take it. He swallowed it without an issue. After he took it, he asked Momo for a hug. With is arms wrapped around her neck, she quickly picked him up and started to bring him to his room before he called out for Dahyun. 

“Dahyunnie said she would read me a story,” he said before wiping his eyes. 

“That’s right, we can’t forget that can we?” Dahyun appeased to the toddler before Momo handed him over. He nestled his head in the nook of Dahyun’s shoulder and waited as Dahyun carried him off to his room. 

Dahyun tucked him in and grabbed the book beside his bed.

“Is this the one you want me to read Sian?” She asked. 

He nodded and adjusted himself on his pillow. Dahyun opened the book to the first page and started reading. The book was about a bird who was learning to fly. Children’s literature. Always about teaching a lesson and building skills. As she read through the pages she wondered if their were books that could help her build skills. Coping skills to be more exact. 

By this point she was reading the book in Sian’s room but her mind was somewhere else. She realized that other than briefly looking at the pictures in his room, this was the first time she had thought back to that night. She realized how she was incapable of handling everything. Her coping skills consisted of spending time alone, avoiding every question she got about how she was doing, and every now and then hanging out with Sana. She did all of these things while trying to repress everything that she remembered. No matter how hard she tried to do this, it was always brought back to the forefront of her memory in her dreams. Like clockwork, every night she couldn’t escape the dreams that replayed like a movie. She felt her throat start to tense and her eyes strain. She felt her tear ducts start to moisten and drop down her lap. All the emotions she was feeling were not easy to manage and control. She snapped back to reality remembering where she was. She looked up from the book to see Sian sleeping soundly.

She was so paranoid about everything that she was able to disassociate from the time and place she was in and return in fear of crying in front of a toddler. The things kids’ books could spark within adults. 

Dahyun placed the book back beside the bed and tip toed her way back into the living room. Momo was curled up on the couch looking at something on her phone. She looked up as Dahyun sat down beside her. Without delay, Momo motioned Dahyun to turn and face the other way as she took a hold of her hair and began tracing her fingers through it and braiding it. 

“How did it go?” Momo asked. 

“Good… I guess. I’m not 100% sure of when he fell asleep but he’s out cold.” Dahyun responded.

“You know, you’re super great with kids” she complimented Dahyun as she finished one braid and then went to the other side of Dahyun’s head. 

“Am I? I was just helping out,” 

“Yes, you were able to get him to listen and put him down easily.”

“Oh… I guess I just turned on cheery Dahyun.”

“Well whatever you did worked, and I thought it was absolutely amazing.”

“Oh thanks.”

Dahyun opened her phone. It was the first time she had browsed through it since she had arrived that morning. As the screen flashed on, she had hoped to see a message from Sana. She knew she had class and was now getting ready to head off to rehearsal, but one simple message wasn’t going to hurt anyone. After everything she experienced today, she felt that a message from Sana was going to make everything feel better. She sighed and felt her body rise and fall with great exaggeration. Momo had finished the braid on the other side of her head and let her fingers trace down either side of Dahyun’s neck and fall down to her shoulders. 

“There, two beautiful braids for one beautiful lady,” Momo giggled as she rubbed and squeezed Dahyun’s shoulders. 

“Oh thanks,” Dahyun replied. 

“Don’t mention it honey.” Momo stood up from the couch and looked back at Dahyun. “I’m going to go finish tidying up in the kitchen. Sit down and rest, you deserved that break after putting him down.” Momo said as she disappeared into the kitchen. 

Dahyun sat back on the couch and got lost in her phone. With Sian in bed and Momo in the kitchen she finally had time to herself. She browsed through all of her social media. She switched to her videos app and got lost down the rabbit hole. From one link to another, she kept watching related videos. This simple notion brought along simple tranquility. 

Nearly thirty minutes had gone by without her noticing. She looked up from her phone to see that Momo was still in the kitchen. She was almost done from the looks of it. She was wiping the table and drying the dishes that she had just washed. From across the room Dahyun could hear the phone ring. She jumped up from the chair and ran to it. It was probably Mark just calling to check in on Sian and see how he is doing. She pulled the phone off of the receiver and placed it at her ear. 

“Mark, listen we’ve got to do something about this situation that we have,” the low voice said before Dahyun cut them off.

“Hello? Sorry, Mark isn’t around right now can I take a message?” she answered. There was a long period of silence. She could hear breathing on the other end of the line but there was no reply. “Hello?” she asked again shifting her feet on the floor. 

The sound of a dial tone filled her ears. Whoever was on the other end of the phone call must have hung up. That phrase ‘we’ve got to do something about this situation that we have,’ chilled Dahyun to the bone. It was so general and so ominous at the same time. What did it mean? Was it connected to what she overheard at the bank? Was everything connected? Everything that happened made Dahyun want to connect the dots, something that had been driving her crazy for as long as she could remember. Looking out the window she saw Mark’s car return to the front of the house. His words echoed in her head, “never pick up the phone.” In fear of what might come, she quickly dropped the phone back on the receiver and ran back to the couch. 

“All washed up in there! I hope you weren’t trying to talk to me, I couldn’t hear anything over the running water.” Momo laughed as she casually flinged water at Dahyun. She turned her head to look out the window, “oh, Mark is back already?” 

As Dahyun nodded, the door flung open and Mark barreled inside. He quickly kicked off his shoes and ran into the living room.

“Hi girls, did that phone ring at all?” He asked frantically. 

“Nope,” Dahyun responded very quickly. 

“Okay, just checking.” 

“Expecting a call?” Momo asked.

“Just a work thing. How is Sian?” He said, quickly changing the subject. 

“Good. He went down for a nap a little bit ago. Dahyun here got him to sleep by reading him a bed time story.” Momo bragged on behalf of Dahyun. 

“That’s great. I came home early from work to come check on him. You two are good to go home if you’d like, I’ve already sent a message to the girls who were supposed to come later in the evening.” He said as he motioned to the door. 

“Yeah sure,” Momo said, grabbing her bag. 

“Ummm, okay…” Dahyun replied. 

“Yep, you two have done so much work today you deserve your rest, get out of here,” he said in a joking manner. Although it sounded like he was joking, Dahyun felt like he was forcing them out. There was something suspicious about what was happening but she didn’t have the time to try to figure out what it was. 

After being pushed out the door, Dahyun went to the bus by herself. Momo had to go somewhere in the area and the two girls parted ways. As Dahyun waited for the bus she felt antsy. She was worried about everything that was happening. The pictures of Taeyeon on the floor in Sian’s room, Mark being suspicious while on the phone, the mysterious phone call, the situation he had to deal with, and the way he was forcing them out the door. It made Dahyun start to shake. It was overwhelming and it seemed to be pointing to something. Something Dahyun still wasn’t sure of. She didn’t know if she wasn’t sure of it or just wanted to avoid thinking about it altogether. 

The wait became unbearable. The longer she stood still waiting for the bus the more she thought. The more she thought the more anxious she felt. In a flash decision she started walking. The walk back to her apartment was not a short one, but it was better than being forced to be alone with her thoughts. At least while walking she was able to get lost in the changing scenery and the people that walked past her. It allowed her to feel alone and surrounded by people all at the same time. 

As she passed through every city street she was able to get lost in the signs on the little Mom and Pop restaurants that hid on the side of buildings. As it got darker, the lights began to illuminate the city. Dahyun loved it. She took in all of the colours of the neon signs in windows. It felt like a jazzy vibe. It was cool, in the jazziest sense of the world. For a moment in time, her mind was liberated once again. 

Before she knew it, the two-hour walk went by in a flash and she was back in her apartment. As she opened the door all of the lights were off. It seemed like no one else was home. The darkness in her apartment brought her back to the feelings of isolation. All of the thoughts and feelings from the day seemed to be creeping back up on her.  
The only source of light coming into the apartment was from the front window. With her body leading her, Dahyun perched herself back on the window sill. She looked out into the night sky and the illuminated city beneath it. As she looked out into the city, she saw the path that she followed to make it back to her apartment. It was interesting to see everywhere she had been walking from a different point of view. 

Her point of view returned to the issues of the day. As the thoughts came back into her head Dahyun felt herself remaining calm. It was something about that window sill that helped her stay grounded in everything that she was doing. After thinking she knew one thing was for certain. The random phone call that they had received, Mark was expecting it. From the way he barreled through the door merely minutes after the phone rang to the way he asked if it had rung. He knew it was coming. It must have just been a coincidence that Sian was sick and that he was coming home to check on him. That must have explained why Mark didn’t want any of the girls answering the phones while babysitting. Saying out loud seemed farfetched to Dahyun. It did. She was wondering if she was becoming one of those conspiracy theorists. But the more she sat down and thought about some of these things were connected, they made so much more sense. 

She sighed against the glass leaving a fog imprint from her breath. That explained that, but it didn’t explain the other issues Dahyun found earlier. It didn’t explain who the ‘other man’ is. He could have been the person on the phone, but it was equally likely that he could be someone else. Dahyn wasn’t prepared to forget the argument she witnessed between Mark and another man at Taeyeon’s funeral. This also didn’t explain why Mark was being suspicious on the phone when Dahyun called him. Although it is true she didn’t know where he worked or what he did, the atmosphere of what she heard on the other end didn’t sound right. She still wasn’t sure if anything she had figured out today was at all connected to what happened in the bank. The only other thing that she knew was that she had a lot more information that she needed to keep to herself. 

With a slow creak the door to the apartment opened. Dahyun panicked. She had wondered if she had forgotten to lock the door when she came in? Did someone follow her home as she was walking through the city streets? She instantly thought of the worst. She was more than relieved to see what was actually coming from the other side of the door. 

“Oh there you are, I figured you would be home!”

“What are you doing here?” Dahyun asked.

“Chaeyoung told me you would be home soon and she gave me the keys. She told me to tell you she’s spending the night at Mina’s.” The voice replied. 

The lights flipped on and there she was. She was more beautiful than the dream. Sana was wearing skinny jeans and a tight top. She stepped out of her shoes in the middle of the apartment. 

“What are you doing up there?” She asked Dahyun. 

“Just thinking.” Dahyun replied. Slid herself off of the window sill and hugged her ‘not girlfriend.’ “So Chaeng just gave you the keys?”

“Yeah, after rehearsal she said she was going to Mina’s, figured you would be lonely, and told me to come by.” Sana explained. “Have you talked to her recently by the way?”

“Not really… We’ve both been kind of quiet with each other. Why?” 

“No reason, something just seemed off. How was baby sitting Sian?” 

Dahyun recounted the stories of babysitting from earlier that day. She left out her accusations and theories and kept with the Sian getting sick story. She explained how she had helped take care of him and put him down for a nap all while trying to take care of the sick toddler. As Dahyun talked about the things she was doing, Sana’s eyes were lighting up. With each thing she said she was taking care of Sian with, Sana was much more invested. 

“So you’re really good with kids then,” Sana smirked while nibbling on her bottom lip. 

“I guess so,” Dahyun chuckled, feeling her cheeks burn up. Dahyun was finally starting to clue in. A proficiency to work with kids became increasingly attractive for others to see.

“Well with all that hard work, it seems like you could use some rest. It’s just the two of us here tonight you know? No need to worry about interruptions” Sana teased while tracing her fingers up and down Dahyun’s arms. “I think I just might need to stay the night and make sure you’re taken care of.” 

It was that amount of forwardness that Dahyun loved about Sana. In one short interaction, Sana showed that she cared immensely for Dahyun while displaying a burning passion for her. As much as Dahyun had a difficulty describing things, she could confidently say that Sana was sexy. Hand in hand, Sana led Dahyun into the bedroom and curled her up in blankets and the comforter. 

“Stay right here, don’t move. I’ll be back,” Sana said as she laughed Dahyun alone in the room wrapped up in blankets. From the other room she was able to hear the microwave going and the kernels for popcorn popping. After a short time, Sana walked back inside wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Seeing her made Dahyun swallow hard. Sexy. In one hand she had the bowl of popcorn and in the other she was carrying a laptop. She crawled up into bed beside Dahyun and set up their make shift theatre date. They picked a movie and started watching. Before even making it to the open credits, Sana had already put her arms around Dahyun. Almost naturally, Dahyun grabbed on to Sana and placed her head on her chest. It was a place where Dahyun just felt comfortable. Any time she was wrapped up in Sana’s arms was a good time. 

She felt Sana’s hand fall over hers. Dahyun opened her palm and felt their fingers intertwine. Sana was tracing her thumb over Dahyun’s and then leaned her head onto Dahyun’s. It was simple. The things she was doing were so simple, but it had Dahyun seeing stars. Sana made the most simple things the most romantic things and the most romantic things absolutely breathtaking. Dahyun wanted to kiss her. She really did. Since the Summer they still hadn’t kissed. She was almost craving it at this point. The thought of a kiss had her biting on to her own lip. She was feeling tired and like she could pass out at any moment. If she was going to kiss Sana, she wanted to be on her A-game no matter what.   
As the movie went on, Dahyun felt herself becoming more and more sleepy. She felt her eyes open and close repeatedly. She then closed them for the final time. She could no longer hear the movie but she could hear people talking. 

This dream wasn’t like the others. She was shocked that she could was able to fall asleep twice in a row without having any bad dreams. It was similar to the dream she had earlier in the day. All of her castmates were happy and chatting. They were talking and enjoying their time together. Chaeng and Mina were hanging out, Jihyo was teaching Tzuyu, Nayeon and Jeongyeon were flirting, Dahyun, Momo, and Sana were all taking together. It was beautiful to see everyone having fun and enjoying their time together.   
On the outside of the dream, Dahyun was asleep on Sana’s chest. On the inside, she was having dreams that allowed her castmates to be happy. It felt like a miracle. There was no better way to explain it. For one night, Dahyun was able to get the rest she deserved. She hoped that this was the way things were going to be now. She hoped that she would be able to finally sleep without having nightmares that woke her up. 

The hope that was inevitable to be short-lived. She knew for the near future it was impossible to achieve this, but in the moment, the couldn’t help but just enjoy it. Falling asleep in Sana’s arms, not thinking about the issues she was dealing with, having good dreams, it all seemed worth it.


	10. Coming Full Circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I am back again with another update! This is a long one so please feel free to dig in and take it at your own pace!
> 
> I recognize that over the past few chapters we've hit a huge milestone of 1000 reads and are now currently at over 1200! This blows my mind. I never thought a project I was working on would hit this many readers ever. That being said, many people do things to celebrate hitting these kinds of milestones. As a result, I've decided I am going to link my instagram. Sort of as a way to put a face to a writer. 
> 
> Insta: dawson_w98
> 
> As always, I am so thankful of each and everyone of you! Please continue to leave comments and bookmark so you can see when I update this story again! I'm so blessed to have fans and readers as amazing as you all!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP

Dahyun took a minute to catch her breath. She didn’t realize she’d been speaking for that long. She looked up from the desk to see stern faces looking back at her. One passed her a glass of water. They encouraged her to take a drink and her time. 

“I’m sorry it’s taking this long, I just don’t want to forget anything,” Dahyun stuttered before sipping her glass of water. 

“Dahyun, you don’t have to apologize. Take as much time as you need” one of the men responded.

Her hands were trembling. Now she was getting to what brought her here. The door suddenly opened with a piercing sound and Dahyun jumped. Since she had gotten there every little thing scared her. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” a familiar voice said to her. “I’m never usually late, especially when things are this important. 

Dahyun nodded her head before taking a deep breath, another sip of water, and turned her eyes back to the desk. She went back to pulling at her fingers. That seemed to be the only thing soothing her when she couldn’t talk to Sana or sit at her window ledge. She felt her breathing get heavier and her head get lighter. She felt a hand rest upon her shoulder. She didn’t look up. Despite not knowing who it was, it felt somewhat comfortable.

“I know this has been difficult for you. Take it at your own pace. There’s no rush here,” the familiar voice said to her. 

Dahyun lifted her eyes, took one more deep breath and went on talking. The story she started telling hours before was finally about to come to and end. 

* * *

Her shoes slammed down on the pavement as she sprinted down the sidewalk. She held her backpack with one hand and pumped with the other hand. She couldn’t risk being late. She was doing anything and everything to make sure she made it on time. She’d seen the directors she’d worked with when people were late. Scary. Of all of the cardinal rules, there was one that was the scariest. The Macbeth curse could be cast aside by performing a simple sequence of actions to dispel the curse. The role of improv to save the day when things went off track were specific to every show and brilliance often came up in the moment. But being late, there was no fixing that. They always said, if you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, well, know one knows what happens when you’re late. 

It didn’t help that she was almost late to class this morning. She spent the night at Sana’s. She was feeling down. School and her responsibilities were starting to pile up, let alone the trauma that she lived with every day. Last night was another one of those nights. No matter what Dahyun did, she couldn’t shake it. 

She let out a sarcastic chuckle as she turned the corner. She thought it was funny. Funny in a morbid sense. She felt like her body was finally used to not sleeping at night. It was used to the trembles and shakes she would get when she was anxious. It was almost normal for her. It wasn’t easy by any means, it was just a struggle that became unfortunately normal for her. The funny part was that these struggles took over her life, and still do, but she learned how to manage them somewhat. But the stress of school, rehearsal, and babysitting all together left her unable to carry on with her normal routine. Dahyun was further becoming an enigma that she couldn’t understand. 

It was all of those feelings that led Dahyun to text Sana the night before. Sitting alone in the apartment. Chaeyoung had gone out again and instead of telling her, just left a note on the table. Since that night Sana had shown up at the apartment via Chaeyoung’s key, that was pretty much the only way that Dahyun and her roommate had communicated. With that in mind, Dahyun sent her a message saying that she was stressed out and wanted company. Without hesitation, Sana sent an Uber to her apartment and had her shuttled over. 

Sana answered the door and Dahyun’s eyes traced her up and down. She honestly didn’t know if she was trying this hard to get to Dahyun or it was just natural at this point. She was wearing a simple black dress that fell down to just above her knee. She was wearing sheer black tights. Her hand was rested upon the door frame and the other was reaching for Dahyun. She pulled her inside and brought her to the couch. Sitting on the coffee table was a cup of green tea with one milk. Her favourite. Beside it was a bowl of chips and trail mix. Her favourite de-stressing snack. Sana planted herself behind Dahyun and started slowly tracing her fingers up and down Dahyun’s back. Her fingers sent shocks up and down Dahyun’s spine. 

Sana slightly repositioned and let Dahyun kind of fall back into her. Sana threw her arms over Dahyun’s shoulders and locked her fingers, resting on her chest. She was so calm and each movement was so natural. Dahyun could almost feel the stress and anxiety leave her body. 

“So here’s the plan for tonight,” Sana began whispering in her ear. “You’re going to work on what you need to. I’m going to make sure you’re taken care of okay?” 

Dahyun nodded and shifted to the front of the couch to open up some more space. She reached into her backpack, pulled out her laptop, and angled her body off of the side of the cushion. Sana scooted beside her and crossed her legs. Her foot brushed Dahyun’s leg causing Dahyun to jump. Dahyun turned her head to look at Sana. With a smirk, Sana simply pointed back at her computer screen. 

As Dahyun did work, Sana rubbed her back and her shoulders. She had a weird relationship between having a clear mind and having her concentration interrupted by her ‘not girlfriend.’ These were the kinds of distractions that she definitely didn’t mind having. 

After working for hours, which seemed like minutes, Sana finished playing with Dahyun’s hair and suggested they get to bed. Sana had an early class and would leave Dahyun at the apartment to get to her early afternoon class by herself. They both changed into their pajamas and climbed in bed. As usual, Dahyun fell asleep in Sana’s arms.

It was what came after that turned her day into what it was. Dahyun ended up waking up late, missing the bus, showing up late to class, staying after class to get the parts of the notes that she missed, and was now sprinting to rehearsal so she wouldn’t be late for something for the third time that day. 

Her daydream about Sana almost had her slam into the door to the theatre. She was lucky that she snapped back to reality in the last second and was able to brace herself. She powered through the door, and into the green room. No one was there. Everyone must’ve been on stage just waiting for her. She threw everything into her locker, grabbed her script and notebook, and then darted out of the room in the direction of the stage. 

She stopped right in front of the door and collected her breath. She didn’t want everyone on the other side to know she had been sprinting for two city blocks to get there and still be late. As she pressed through the door she expected everyone to either scold her or call her out. That’s traditionally what happened with this cast. You also got a firm look from the director before they turned back. But what she got on the other side, was the exact opposite from what she expected. 

As Dahyun stepped out on to the stage it was quiet. The other cast members were there. All except Jihyo. They had somber looks on their faces. It was scary and unsettling. Dahyun looked from person to person. Each made eye contact with her for a brief moment before looking away or back down at the floor. 

When Dahyun got to Sana, her stomach dropped. Even Sana wouldn’t continue to look at her. As their eyes met, Sana took a deep breath and looked away. No movement, no excitement to see her. This was the same girl who, the night before, was dressed up for Dahyun and cuddled her to sleep. 

Instantly, her mind turned for the worst. Did something happen to Jihyo? Her stomach sank once again. Something was off. The atmosphere was cold, uncharacteristic of a theatre group. 

“I-is everything okay? Where’s Jihyo?” Dahyun stammered and sat down on the set. 

“Everything is not okay!” Nayeon snapped back. Her words weren’t sharp but the way they were spoken shocked every person in the auditorium. Each of the girls tensed their shoulders at the sound of Nayeon’s voice. 

“Nayeon.” Jeongyeon said trying to calm her. “Jihyo is on her way. She said something came up but it was nothing serious.” Jeongyeon answered Dahyun. 

Dahyun once again looked around the auditorium. That wasn’t it. That wasn’t the issue. She looked back to Nayeon and opened her mouth before stopping. She saw a newspaper in her hand. Realizing what could be on in the newspaper her own stomach dropped. Based on Sana’s reaction she thought that’s what it could be, but hoped it really wasn’t. She needed to know. Nayeon wasn’t talking anymore. Instead she was arguing with Jeongyeon about calming down. 

With the silence in the room, the only way Dahyun figured she would find out what was happening, would be to ask Nayeon. 

“Can you tell me why everything is not okay?” Dahyun asked. 

“These bastards clearly don’t care about anyone in this community. Especially the people who were impacted by what happened!” Nayeon continued yelling as she showed Dahyun the newspaper article. 

From a distance, Dahyun read the headline. ‘Investigation for Murder of Teacher, Director, and Community Member Called off Due to Lack of Evidence.” Just reading the words in her head was enough to make her body shiver and her knees feel weak. She turned to look at Sana again. This time Sana refused to move her head and make eye contact with her. Dahyun was sure Sana knew she was looking at her.

The words of their first fight replayed in her head. 

“Besides, you heard Tzuyu say it today. The police are already investigating it. They’re going to make sure that no matter what, they get the person who did this.” Sana’s words rung out in Dahyun’s ears. Her biggest fear. The police were no longer investigating the issue. The one thing that changed everyone’s lives. The thing that kept Dahyun awake at night. The thing that rifted her friendship with her roommate and jeopardized her relationship with her ‘not girlfriend,’ and no one who had the ability to help cared.   
The one thing that was stopped Dahyun and Sana from stepping forward was no longer in play. 

“If there wasn’t any investigation this would be a completely different story,” Sana’s words echoed in her head once again. There wasn’t an investigation anymore. Something needed to be done. 

Dahyun couldn’t find the right words to describe how she was feeling in that moment. She was angry, exhausted, and sad. She was angry that no one cared. She was exhausted with everything she was tormented with continuing to haunt her. She was sad that she felt helpless and hopeless. No matter what words Sana had told her before, she was sure she would never go back on them. 

The sound of the door opening caused everyone to turn their heads again. Jihyo walked in with her usual smile.

“Sorry I’m late. As I was leaving my place Daniel called me and said he was locked out of his place, but he was worried about his dog. It’s a long story but…” Jihyo paused as she looked around the room. “What’s going on?” Jihyo asked without hesitating. She knew everyone, and she knew everyone well enough to be direct and not beat around the bush.   
At this point Nayeon was on the verge of tears. She didn’t even bother speaking. Instead she just turned the newspaper around to face Jihyo. Jihyo swallowed hard and stepped backwards. It seemed as if this was the first time she was left without knowing what to say. After a minute of silence Jihyo tried addressing the room. 

“This is probably the last thing any of us would have wanted.” Jihyo started. “We all hoped this would have been resolved by now. But there’s nothing we can do. We have to put our faith that justice will be served. What we can do, and what is in our control, is how hard we work to make this show everything Taeyeon wanted to be. That’s the right thing to do here.” Jihyo finished. Dahyun was concerned. This wasn’t like Jihyo. Jihyo always had something to say and she always had something lengthy to say. 

“Are you kidding me!?” Nayeon growled back at Jihyo. 

Instead of tensing at the shoulders, everyone turned to see what was happening in front of them. 

“This just happened and your reaction is to just go back to rehearsing,” Nayeon continued. 

“Well, that’s all we can really do-“ Jihyo tried to respond.

“Do you even get what’s happening or are you just so fixated on this damn show that you refuse to see what’s happening in front of you?”

“I’m trying to keep best interests-“

“Whose interests? Whose interests are you trying to keep in mind!?”

“Our interests”

Dahyun was shocked. Nayeon was yelling at Jihyo and Jihyo responded very calmly, without raising her voice even slightly. 

“You’re concerned about our interests? Meanwhile we’re all here bawling our eyes out through every step of the way and we’re forced to come to rehearse for this show?  
Nayeon stepped away from Jeongyeon who was trying to get her to sit down. 

“This is what has been keeping us together.”

“I bet this has been really easy for you.”

“What do you mean Nayeon?” 

“Meanwhile we’re all here crying and having a hard time, you’ve been fine. You haven’t even shown that you cared anything has happened and that we are struggling.”

“Nayeon, listen-“

“Listen to what? Listen to you!? It’s almost like you don’t care that Taeyeon is gone!”

Those words shocked everyone in the room. 

“But it’s fine right? You got the director’s job. It’s your project now hunh? Hard to be sad when you reap the benefits of everything that’s happened.”

“Nayeon,” Jeongyeon interected firmly. 

“Don’t you dare,” Nayeon responded. “So go ahead. Enjoy your damn rehearsal. It’s not like you care about this anyways!” Nayeon yelled before throwing the newspaper at Jihyo’s feet and storming out of the auditorium. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jeongyeon said to Jihyo before running and chasing after Nayeon. 

Jihyo just stood there. She looked at the newspaper and didn’t move. No one knew what to expect. Jihyo had never been spoken to like that. Not that they had seen at least. But the reaction they got was certainly the reaction they thought Jihyo would have given. She simply bent down, picked up the newspaper and placed it down on one of the set pieces. She sat down on the set and looked to everyone with her unwavering smile. 

“I’m sorry about that everyone.” She started. “We don’t have to have rehearsal today. A couple of people have already left and today seems kind of difficult for all of us. Today was mostly review anyways. So, if you’re not feeling up to it, please feel free to head out.” 

One by one people slowly stood up. Mina stood up while holding her face and quietly whimpering into her sleeves. Mina was never one for confrontation, and one this big was more than certain to bring about this kind of reaction. Momo led her out and nodded her head to Jihyo as if to apologize to her. Tzuyu was the next. Sana took a quick look around the room and then left without saying a word. This only left Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Jihyo left in the room. 

“I’m going to make the call here and say we’ll re-schedule. I know things are difficult, just make sure to take care of yourselves and each other okay? I’ll talk to you guys soon.” Jihyo said before standing up and heading to the dressing room. At this point, Dahyun’s body just reacted. It took her up, and she left the auditorium without thinking. Her head was in a blur. 

She carried herself to outside of the theatre. She was standing outside in the fresh air. Her hands were shaking and her mind was going at a mile a minute. She was trying to process everything that just happened. The headline, the freak out, Jihyo’s reaction, and what to do next. She didn’t know. She took her trembling hand, reached into her pocket, and pulled out her phone. Sana’s contact was the first thing on her screen and her thumb fell on the call button.   
It was ringing. 

What if she picked up? Were they going to have this conversation right now?

Ring. 

Could they finally just have this situation done and over with?

Ring. 

Was it right to have this conversation right now? There was a sound on the other end of the line. Much like the first time Dahyun tried to call Sana, her voicemail came up. The sound of the door opening behind her startled her and pushed her to hang up the phone. 

“Hey, are you okay?” The voice came from behind her.

Dahyun turned her head to see Chaeyoung slowly walking up to her. 

“I know we haven’t really talked a lot in the past little bit, but I just-“ She continued.

“I’m fine.” Dahyun responded. 

“Dahyun look, you don’t have to worry about that. I want to make sure that you’re okay.” Chaeyoung tried to push. 

“Chaeyoung. I’m fine.” Dahyun pushed back and grabbed her arm.

“Dahyun you’re shaking. You can’t tell me you’re fine.” 

She didn’t even realize she was shaking. I guess it was easy for others to see. She was holding her notebook and the pages were shifting from side to side. 

“I’m fi-“

“Can you say something other than you’re fine? You’re not fine!” Chaeyoung growled. 

Dahyun shook her head in response and looked down at the ground. 

“I have to go. There’s a test review session I can get to now.” Dahyun ended the conversation and then walked away. As she stepped away she could hear Chaeyoung calling out to her from behind. She took off through campus as tears dripped from her eyes and fell down her cheeks. 

Dahyun had been waiting in the lecture hall since before class started. She had a night class and after running away from Chaeyoung thought it would be best if she just stayed there and waited. Yet another class was happening where Dahyun was in the lecture hall but her mind was somewhere else. All she could think about was that headline.   
‘Investigation for Murder of Teacher, Director, and Community Member Called off Due to Lack of Evidence.’

Was it really over? Were they actually giving up the search? It had been a month and a half since Taeyeon died and they were giving up because they said they didn’t have enough evidence. Dahyun felt her throat tighten up. The evidence that they needed to keep the investigation was being withheld by two university students. An account of what happened that night, and the scar to prove it. Just thinking about it caused her wound to start to burn. She felt her breathing pick up again. There was no way Sana would step forward. Especially not after the last conversation they had about it. She was lost.

Just thinking about Sana made things more difficult. Last night, they had an amazing time together. They both got up this morning without any idea that this was going to happen. She had no idea that they were about to go back to square one. Were they going to go back to ignoring each other? Were they going to avoid talking? Would Dahyun be able to convince Sana that they needed to step forward and do something now? Dahyun’s head started pounding with all of the different questions and responsibilities that floated around her. 

Chaeyoung wasn’t helping either. Dahyun knew Chaeyoung was just trying to help and be there for her. It just wasn’t enough. Dahyun couldn’t afford to tell people about what happened. She still felt the need to play the game of hiding it and dealing with the consequences as they arose. Dahyun let out a sigh. The two hadn’t talked in a while despite living together. Chaeyoung didn’t really help Dahyun. Instead she made her feel more anxious and more at conflict with herself. 

The droning on of the teacher and the sounds of students furiously writing notes and tapping at their computers made Dahyun even more anxious. She couldn’t rationally think about the things that were going on inside of her head. She wanted a clear mind. She needed a clear mind. These were things she was not going to get while sitting in the middle of a lecture hall. 

It didn’t take her long to make the decision. She grabbed the one notebook she brought with her and left the lecture hall. Before starting on her way home she realized she had left her backpack in her locker that contained her laptop. With a sigh, she turned and rushed back to the theatre to retrieve her belongings. 

She stepped slowly through the auditorium and into the green room. Before making it two steps inside she could hear a noise coming from inside. It almost sounded like someone was whimpering. The sound itself was really muffled so Dahyun couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. With each gingerly step, Dahyun made her way closer to her locker, and by extension, the other sound. 

Just as she was supposed to round the corner for her locker, she froze. Whatever was making that sound was right in front of her. She didn’t want to just step out. She didn’t know who or what it was. With all of the talk of the day, she was more worried that the man from the beach was waiting around the corner with his gun for Dahyun to come back. She started playing in her head what was like the dreams she had every night. She could see herself stepping around the corner and coming face to face with the barrel of the gun. 

With another sniffle, Dahyun leaned in for a better listen. It sounded feminine. On the bright side, it significantly lowered the probability that whatever was on the other side was the man from the beach. The fact that the sound was feminine made Dahyun feel a little bit more comfortable and safer. The only way to get to her locker was going around the corner. She needed to get to her locker and as a result, was forced to look and see what that sound was. 

Dahyun took a deep breath and slowly poked her head around the corner. Sitting on the bench in front of her was a young woman sobbing. Dahyun was, for the fourth time that day, shocked. This was the reaction that no one was expecting. 

Sitting on the bench was Jihyo, crying into her hands. As Dahyun stepped around the corner, she placed more weight to her steps. She wasn’t trying to be quiet anymore. The sound of her shoe on the tiled floor startled Jihyo causing her to jump. She flung her head to the side and made eye contact with Dahyun. 

“Oh! Dahyun! Hello!” Jihyo put on a fake smile and quickly wiped her eyes. “How are you?”

“I’m fine… Are you okay?” Dahyun responded with a question. 

“I’m great.” Jihyo said with all the sincerity in her voice she could muster.

“When I came in that’s not what it sounded like.”

Jihyo froze. Her eyes widened when Dahyun said that. She dropped her head and looked down at the floor. 

“I thought I heard something too,” Jihyo said while trying to save face. 

“Jihyo,” Dahyun was more direct this time. 

“I’m sorry.” Defeat emanated from those words. “You should never have seen me like this it isn’t right.” Jihyo said while wiping her eyes. 

Dahyun shook her head. She agreed that she had never seen Jihyo like this, but disagreed that she should never see her when she’s upset. 

“Jihyo, what are you talking about?”

“I’m supposed to be holding us together. I can’t do that for all of us if you all think I’m a train wreck.” The sniffling returned and tears were forming in the corner of her eyes.   
Right there it all made sense. Dahyun was starting to understand Jihyo and everything she was talking about. Dahyun herself had her own suspicions. She always wondered why she never seemed sad or how she never seemed affected by anything that was happening to her. Even today, Nayeon screamed at her in front of the entire cast and Jihyo didn’t even flinch. Not once. She didn’t even retaliate and now Dahyun knew why. Jihyo was always trying to save face in front of everyone in the group. She wanted to appear strong in front of everyone so they would all have faith that she could keep them together. It almost made her think about what was happening in her own life. 

“Jihyo… It’s okay to cry. You know that right?” Dahyun re-assured Jihyo. 

Jihyo didn’t say anything in return. Instead she smiled at Dahyun and started crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Dahyun’s response was almost automatic. While Jihyo was crying, Dahyun hugged her. Jihyo buried her head into the shoulder of Dahyun’s sweater and cried. Dahyun was slowly rubbing up and down Jihyo’s back when she started talking. 

“It’s been really hard. It really has. I’ve been bottling everything up and just hiding it. I figured if I did that everyone would think I was strong enough to continue. I didn’t realize people would think I don’t care at all.” Jihyo sniffled. 

“We don’t think that-“

“You heard it yourself Dahyun. Nayeon thinks it. The truth is I can’t really handle it. What do you do when you wake up one morning and find out that your mentor, someone you looked at as a mother is dead?” Jihyo choked on that sentence. She let out another huff before continuing. “I tried to do what she would have done. I wanted to make sure I was there for all of you and I didn’t want any of you to worry about me.”

Dahyun sat in silence. All of the words Jihyo didn’t have earlier today were coming out right now. Jihyo was a woman of many words, all meaningful, and all impactful. This was a side she would have never expected to see and quite frankly, didn’t know what to say. 

“I’ll be honest. Some days I lay in bed and wonder if any of this was really worth it. I can barely motivate myself to sit up and even get ready. The only thing that really gives me life is coming to rehearsal and seeing you guys.” Jihyo fell silent and leaned away from Dahyun. 

“Jihyo, we all appreciate everything you do for us. You were always there for us and caring for us. I know what Nayeon said today. But let’s be honest, when she gets emotional she usually just says things without meaning it. The truth is, we all love you for everything that you’re doing.” Dahyun’s words were automatic. She started talking without being sure of what she was going to say or what point she was trying to make. 

Jhyo’s eyes watered and her lips quivered. She was holding back another set of tears. For a second time she grabbed on to Dahyun tightly and cried. It seemed like a liberating cry. 

“Thank you,” were the only words that Dahyun could make out from Jihyo. Dahyun was comforting the person that had always comforted her and her castmates. Dahyun rubbed up and down her back until Jihyo lifted herself off of her. “Thank you Dahyun. I love you guys too. You’re the only family I have here. Everyone else is back home. I’m so lucky to have each and every one of you.”

“We’re even luckier to have you. Even Nayeon,” Dahyun responded. 

Jihyo let out a chuckle while leaning back and wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. 

“Don’t worry, I still love her too. Just hearing that was hard.”

Even after all of that. Jihyo still had no hard feelings for Nayeon. Truly a leader that Dahyun looked up to. 

“Dahyun, thank you. I feel a lot better airing these issues out,” Jihyo let out a deep sigh. “I guess talking about these things really do help.”

Dahyun swallowed hard.

“Yeah that’s what they say,” Dahyun slipped. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jihyo asked. “You haven’t said much at rehearsals lately, and we haven’t really talked since that time we ran into each other in the green room… Kinda like this.” 

Dahyun just shook her head. Even though she was tempted, she didn’t want to. She wasn’t in the right state to try to have this conversation. 

“Dahyun, it’s not healthy to let these things sit inside you. They fester up and destroy you from the inside out.”

“I’m fine, Jihyo please trust me.” Dahyun tried to ward off Jihyo’s questions. 

“Even the slightest bit of saying anything would be enough-“ Jihyo was cut off by her phone ringing. “Dahyun I’m sorry I have to answer this, he’s been worried sick”

“It’s okay, I should probably get home before it’s too late.” Dahyun said before turning to her locker and grabbing her bag.

Dahyun took a few steps before being called back. 

“If you need anything. Call me. I really appreciate you talking to me. Oh and one more thing, no one else needs to know about this, okay?” Jihyo was pointing at her with a stern expression in her eyes. 

Dahyun nodded her head and exited the door. 

After a long walk home, Dahyun stepped into her apartment. The lights were on. Chaeyoung was home. Mina probably needed a night to herself after everything that happened. She needed the chance to think. She hoped Chaeyoung was in her room so that she could sit down on the window sill and figure everything out. 

She took off her shoes, put her backpack down and stepped towards the living room. She headed straight for the window sill but stopped dead in her tracks as she head a cupboard close behind her. 

“So you’re finally home?” Chaeyoung scoffed. 

Dahyun gave a nod in response.

“Really? You have nothing to say? After today? After you literally ran away from me? You have nothing to say!?” Chaeyoung was starting to raise her voice. 

“Chaeyoung, I-“

“Let me guess, you’re fine!?” Chaeyoung was growling at her. “That’s all you keep saying. That’s the only thing you say! Do you really expect me to believe that?”  
“What do you know? You haven’t talked to me for like a month!” Dahyun snapped back. 

Dahyun surprised herself with the amount of force she put behind her words. Generally speaking, Dahyun was level headed, never one to lash out. But all of the sudden she was fighting back. 

“What do you expect from me Dahyun? Please tell me! You don’t talk to me at all, and when you do all you say is ‘im fine.’ Do you expect me to chase you around?”   
“Not assuming things would be a great place to start!”

“What makes you think I’m assuming anything? You don’t sleep at night. Do you think I can’t hear you? I’ll hear you wake up with a scream in the middle of the night or hear you bounce around on your bed back and forth.”

She had no idea Chaeyoung could hear all of that. She didn’t realize that she let out screams as she awoke from her nightmares. 

“You started drinking coffee, you never drink coffee!” Chaeyoung continued. “You’ve been wearing hoodies and sweaters ever since school started and you dodge every question you get about it. What am I supposed to think? You’re giving me and everyone signs that you’re doing drugs.”

“I’m not doing drugs.”

“You stopped talking to me and only recently started talking to Sana again. Not to mention every reaction you have to Taeyeon being mentioned. You practically leave your own body and are on a different planet. The only thing I have seen you do is sit on that god damned window sill in silence. How can we not be concerned? How can we not be worried?” 

Dahyun stood in silence staring at Chaeyoung. She knew everything she was saying was right. There was nothing she could say back. 

“You think this has been easy on me? Meanwhile I’m still trying to cope with everything I’m chasing you around and you give me absolutely nothing.” 

“There’s nothing to give,” Dahyun responded coldly. “I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. You should try to talk to Jihyo about this, she’s pretty good at it. I’m going to bed.” Dahyun abruptly tried to end the conversation and started walking away. 

“You can’t run from these issues Dahyun!” Chaeyoung yelled at her. “This isn’t what Taeyeon wanted for us.”

Dahyun stopped walking and stood in the middle of the hallway. 

“Your struggles become her struggles, and yours become hers. It keeps following that cycle until we tackle these struggles together as a team.” Chaeyoung was reciting Taeyeon’s last words to the cast. “Taeyeon wanted us to work through things together. She would have wanted us to work through this together. You refuse to work with anyone. About anything!” Chaeyoung made her point. 

Dahyun’s response was almost automatic and almost instant. She started crying. Not just crying. Sobbing. Dahyun bawled her eyes out as she turned back to Chaeyoung.   
“Woah. Okay look, I’m mad at you but I didn’t really expect you to cry.” Chaeyoung stepped backwards. 

“I’m sorry,” Dahyun stuttered through sobs. Instead of saying anything else, Dahyun reacted physically. She decided that enough was enough. She couldn’t keep going on like this. She needed to do something. She didn’t know exactly what to do, but this seemed like it was the only thing she could do. 

With trembling arms she grabbed the hem of her hoodie. She gripped it as hard as her hands would let her. She started lifting slowly and lifted her hoodie above her head and dropped it on the floor beside her. 

“Dahyun… what?” Was all Chaeyoung could say. She was staring at exactly what Dahyun hoped she was. “What did you do to your arm?” Chaeyoung asked. Her voice was frail.   
“The second gunshot on that night. It was pointed at me.” Dahyun said. 

Chaeyoung nearly collapsed after hearing that. She grabbed on to the island that sat in their kitchen. 

“What?” 

“I saw everything that happened. I saw the first gunshot. The second shot was pointed at me.” Dahyun cried and fell to the ground. It was the first time she had said that out loud.   
Chaeyoung rushed over to Dahyun, helped her stand up, and sat her down on the couch.

“I’m so sorry Dahyun. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I know you, I should’ve known something bigger was happening. I was a terrible friend.” Chaeyoung started choking up on her words. 

Dahyun didn’t respond. She shook her head as if to tell Chaeyoung it wasn’t her fault. 

“Dahyun, what happened?”

Dahyun took the next hour and a half to explain to Chaeyoung everything that happened. It was a long story. One that took a lot of energy. Surprisingly enough, Dahyun felt somewhat better. Once again, Jihyo was right. In that time Chaeyoung was caught up to speed. She was the only person other than Sana to know about everything that happened.

“So Sana won’t go to the police?” Chaeyoung asked, one hand resting on Dahyun’s. 

Dahyun shook her head. 

“I had no idea this is what you were going through…” Chaeyoung trailed off while taking a sip from a tea that she made for herself. “Dahyun, you need to go to the police. I know this has been a long day for you, but I’ll go with you. You don’t have to do it alone. 

“We need Sana. Without her they won’t believe me.” Dahyun shot the idea down. 

“Wouldn’t it be enough to show them your arm?” Chaeyoung asked. 

“No. If I said I was with Sana, they would ask why she wasn’t there with me.” Dahyun said while sighing. 

Chaeyoung set her tea back down on the table, took Dahyun by the hand and stood up. 

“Let’s go,” she said while walking to the front door and stepping into her sandals. 

“Let’s go where?” Dahyun asked.

“Sana’s. We need to get her on the same page.” Chaeyoung passed Dahyun her shoes. 

“Chaeyoung-“

“Dahyun, if you keep waiting, it is going to be too late. You have the information they need to re-open the case. You are the hope they don’t know they have. We can’t let this just die out.” 

Dahyun nodded her head and stepped into her shoes. The two re-united friends walked outside and into a cab setting the destination for Sana’s apartment.   
They were standing outside and Dahyun hung up her phone for the third time. 

“She’s not answering….” Dahyun trailed off. 

“Can you text her?” Chaeyoung pressed.

“No, it’s past 10:00PM, I’ll just get her autoreply message.” Dahyun said. 

Chaeyoung looked around the apartment complex and caught someone going into the building. She quickly ran up to the door and caught it before it closed all the way and locked. She waved to Dahyun and told her to come. They were bringing this to Sana’s front door. 

As they approached the door Dahyun was a few steps behind. Chaeyoung looked to her and gestured to the door. Dahyun trembled and failed to step up. Chaeyoung nodded and then proceeded to knock on the door. They waited about thirty seconds. There was no answer. Chaeyoung knocked again, harder this time. The sound of the deadbolt turning could be heard from the other side of the door. 

“Chaeyoung?” Sana was confused. 

“You two need to talk. Right now.” Chaeyoung said while pointing back to Dahyun. 

“Chaeyoung listen-“

“Sana I know about what happened.” 

Sana recoiled. She simply opened the door and let Dahyun walk inside. 

“I’ll wait out here. I’ll see the both of you soon.” Chaeyoung said while taking a seat on the ground. 

The door closed behind her and left Dahyun and Sana alone again. 

“Sana we-“

“We aren’t going to the police.” Sana immediately shut her down. 

“We need to. This is what we need to do now.” Dahyun tried to push. 

“It isn’t. There’s nothing we can do. It’s probably best to just forget about it. That’s hard to do when you’re going around telling people about what happened.” 

“I only told Chaeyoung because I had no choice. My back was against the wall. Kind of like how ours are right now.”

“Our backs are not against the wall. We don’t have to do anything.” Sana pushed back. 

“Sana you said it. They were your words. “If there wasn’t any investigation this would be a completely different story,” she repeated them back to her. “There is no investigation anymore. The story is completely different. We have to go to the police.”

“Going to the police makes everything worse!” Sana started getting emotional. 

“Why do you keep saying that? The police are here to keep us safe. What do you mean they make things worse?” 

Sana went to reply but stopped herself. She took the opportunity to collect her thoughts. She swallowed hard and looked at Dahyun with soft eyes. 

“Dahyun, in my first year I was dating somebody. At first things were normal. It was a relationship that seemed great. It quickly turned for the worst.” Sana paused and choked on her words. “One night we got into an argument and he hit me. He hit me and pushed me to the ground. He threatened me not go against what he told me.”  
Dahyun’s eyes shot open. She had been friends with Sana for a year, seeing each other for five months after that year and had no idea this happened. 

“I talked to one of my friends and they told me to go to the police. I did. They didn’t really help me at all. When he found out about it, he showed up at my door and hit me again. If it wasn’t for my neighbours I don’t know what would have happened.” Sana’s eyes were exhausted and starting to tear. 

“Sana I- I’m so sorry.” That was the only thing Dahyun could say. 

“Don’t feel sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want to come out of that. But do see why going to police doesn’t help? It only makes things worse for us.” Sana said. 

“I get it. I promise this situation is different. No one knows who we are, no one knows about this. If we go to the police then they are the only people who know about us. They have to protect our identities. They can re-open the investigation and no one knows” Dahyun tried to re-assure Sana. 

“Dahyun it’s not a good idea.” Sana protested. 

Dahyun was running out of options. If she stayed on this trajectory she would just be bringing up the same points and arguments to get the same answers. She thought back to Chaeyoung and looked up at Sana. 

Dahyun repeated Taeyeon’s last words to the cast to Sana. Sana had a similar reaction to that of Dahyun. 

“Taeyeon would have wanted us to work on this together. We need to take care of each other. Not only each other, but our castmates, Mark, and Sian. This is the right thing to do. It is what Taeyeon would have told us to do.” Dahyun concluded. 

Sana didn’t respond. She nodded her head, walked over to Dahyun, hugged her and walked out the door. 

When they got to the station everything was a blur. The second they told the officers there that they were witnesses the processes moved quickly. Sana and Dahyun were both taken to separate interrogation rooms with two officers each. Dahyun sat across from stern faced officers listening to every detail she spat out.

“That takes us to right now… I’m sorry it took so long to say something,” Dahyun told the officers. 

“Its very brave of you to come forward Dahyun. It isn’t easy. It doesn’t matter that you came forward ‘late,’ it just matters that you did come to us.” The officer at her shoulder said. 

“Thank you Detective Park.” Dahyun replied. The familiar voice that surprised her in the interrogation room, placed his hand on her shoulder, and was re-assuring her was none other than the detective she met at Taeyeon’s funeral. 

This was the second time that day that she made it through the entire story. She was emotionally exhausted. 

“Detective Park, how can we be sure? We’ve had other people come forward with false information looking for a reward,” one of the officers asked.

“Dahyun, I know this process has been traumatizing for you. Can you do us one last favour and show us?” Detective Park asked. 

Dahyun nodded her head and just like before, raised her hoodie above her head and revealed the wound on her arm. 

“That’s the real deal fellas. Forensic reports and crime scene investigations did tell us there were two shots that night. Based on the bullet casings that were found and the ways they were facing, the shots went in multiple directions.” Detective Park stated.

He was just as analytical as the first time Dahyun had met him. He seemed dedicated to what was in front of him. He was attentive. Like he was ready to get back on the case. In the commotion, Dahyun put the sweater back on over her head. 

“It also helps that her story matches up with the other girl. It all checks out. I think we’re good here fellas.” He said as he directed the other officers out of the room. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside Dahyun. “It was brave of you to come talk to us. Here’s what’s going to happen next okay? You’re going to head home. You’re going to get some rest. You’ve done the hard part already, now leave it up to us. Based on what you told us about Mark, I’m going to give you a call sometime this week and we’re going to meet and have a chat.”

“What? I don’t want to get Mark into trouble I-“

“There’s no trouble. We just want to take a look into some of the things you talked about.” 

Dahyun almost regretted talking about Mark. She almost wished that she just left it to what happened on the night of. If she did that, she knew without a doubt she would have regretted it. 

“You did the right thing Dahyun. I’m going to walk you outside now okay? There are a couple of your friends waiting there for you. It seems like you have a good friends.” Detective Park said before helping Dahyun to her feet and leading her outside. 

When she stepped out into the lobby, Detective Park said goodbye and that he would be in contact with her soon. She looked over and saw Chaeyoung asleep in the chairs and Jihyo sitting beside her. Sana was gone. Upon seeing her, Jihyo stood up, ran to her, and hugged her. 

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea this was happening. I’m so glad you finally talked to someone though.” Jihyo whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” 

“Whe-where’d Sana go?” Dahyun asked. She figured Chaeyoung told her about the two of them already. 

“I took her home and I came back and waited for you to come out. I’m driving you home and then I’m sorry, but I’m inviting myself to stay at your place.” Jihyo asserted. 

“What about-“

“She’s fine. She came out feeling okay and when I dropped her off she was calling Momo to come over.” Jihyo answered. “Look, Dahyun. You don’t have to tell me why you two were in that position, but if you want to, I’m here to listen.” Jihyo said before hugging her again.   
Dahyun nodded her head.

Jihyo woke Chaeyoung up and led them both to her car. Dahyun and Chaeyoung occupied the back seat. Chaeyoung looked over to Dahyun.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know what to do when we got here. Jihyo always told me I could call her if I needed to and I-“

“Chaeyoung, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I’m glad she’s here.” Dahyun whispered back. 

When they returned to their apartment Dahyun went straight to her room. Jihyo went to Chaeyoung’s room first to tuck her in and make sure she got to sleep. Within minutes Jihyo was back in Dahyun’s room. She set out a pillow on the floor and got ready to go to sleep. 

“Jihyo, you don’t have to sleep on the floor. You can come up here. I mean, I don’t want to make Daniel jealous.” Dahyun tried to joke after the most emotionally exhausting day she’s ever had. 

“Don’t worry about him, that’s my job. Are you sure?” Jihyo asked. 

“Of course,” Dahyun responded and moved the blankets for Jihyo. 

Jihyo climbed in beside her and rubbed Dahyun’s arm. 

Jihyo was the first one to go. She passed out fell to a place of labored breathing. For the first time in a month and a half, Dahyun felt like she had nothing to think about. She felt like she finally did the right thing. She finally stepped forward. She finally talked about her feelings. She finally resolved things with Chaeyoung. For the first time, things felt right. She would check in with Sana tomorrow. That was a responsibility for future Dahyun. Right now she was concerned with getting to bed. She let her head sink into her pillow and let herself fall asleep. 

As she fell into her bed and into her dreams, she finally let her body and mind rest. It was a rest that was innocent and unaware of the issues she was yet to face. Dahyun’s journey had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I am back again with another update! This is a long one so please feel free to dig in and take it at your own pace!
> 
> I recognize that over the past few chapters we've hit a huge milestone of 1000 reads and are now currently at over 1200! This blows my mind. I never thought a project I was working on would hit this many readers ever. That being said, many people do things to celebrate hitting these kinds of milestones. As a result, I've decided I am going to link my instagram. Sort of as a way to put a face to a writer. 
> 
> Insta: dawson_w98
> 
> As always, I am so thankful of each and everyone of you! Please continue to leave comments and bookmark so you can see when I update this story again! I'm so blessed to have fans and readers as amazing as you all!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP


	11. Getting a Grip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I am back with another update. This one took a bit longer to get out because I was working on exams, papers, and then final papers, and final exams! I just wrapped up my final exams and I am super excited to share this chapter with you all!
> 
> To any new readers, welcome to the story, I hope you've been enjoying the adventure so far! To the readers who have been following for a long time, thank you so much for your continuous support! I hope you all get the opportunity to enjoy the holidays and take some time for yourself!
> 
> For anyone who didn't see it last time, I linked my instagram to celebrate making it to 1000 readers! In case you missed it, my instagram is:
> 
> insta: dawson_w98
> 
> As always, please be sure to leave comments! Let me know what you think, how you feel, and any feedback you may have!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP

For the first time in about a month, Dahyun woke up in the morning feeling rested. It almost felt like things were starting to get back to normal. After getting ready for school she was welcomed by a smiling Chaeyoung standing in the kitchen. Just like old times they had been walking to school every day in the mornings. The days of passive aggressive notes had passed. It would be wrong to say that it was same as before. After their fight in the apartment they were a lot closer. Chaeyoung was there to check on Dahyun when she was feeling down. Dahyun surprised herself with how open she was allowing herself to be with Chaeyoung. 

Surprisingly enough, despite not letting their secret out, Dahyun felt like she was getting closer with the majority of the cast members. Momo was talking to her a lot more. Almost every day Momo was texting Dahyun trying to carry conversations and wanting to hangout. Mina had been spending some more time at the apartment and Tzuyu was asking to meet up on campus more frequently. For some of them, it seemed out of character, but Dahyun wasn’t about to complain. It felt nice to have more company.   
It wasn’t a surprise that Jihyo was closer with Dahyun and Chaeyoung. Since the night at the police station Jihyo had been coming by the apartment two to three times a week. Not only was she an expert of taking care of her cast mates she was an expert at mending broken relationships. Before word started getting around that the investigation was going to resume, Nayeon reached out to Jihyo to talk about what happened at the last rehearsal. Once again with a cool head, Jihyo accepted the apology, told her how much Nayeon meant to her, and told her that they were going to arrange another cast party just to bring everyone together and mend the relationships that could have been damaged.   
Dahyun was starting to feel like the cast was becoming more and more of a family. Especially being away from home, she would never complain about that. It was nice to finally have a network of people there to look after her. 

The slamming of book covers brought Dahyun back to the present. Once again, she dazed out during her moral philosophy lecture. Even though things were looking up, she had a difficulty listening to the class. With every lecture she paid attention to she somehow found a way to connect the theory to her life and prove how everything that happened until now was her fault. 

Dahyun took a deep breath and let out a sigh as she slipped her notebook into her backpack. Due dates for essays were coming up and final exams for this semester were only a couple of weeks away. It was a lot, but it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to. She was used to the stress of so much more, getting to the end of the semester was nothing.   
As she made her way up the aisle trying to stay out of the way of the sea of people heading for the doors, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Even though she expected it, she jumped at the feeling. A message from an unknown number showed up on the screen. She quickly checked over her shoulders to make sure no one was looking at her phone. As she cleared the herd of students she stepped to the side and opened her phone. 

The message read, “This is JYP…” Continuing the trend of using his initials to keep his identity in case he texted the wrong number at first. “I’ll meet you at the sky bean café just outside of campus in fifteen minutes.” 

Dahyun hit the letters ok and pressed send. Walking to the café there were a few things that seemed a bit off. The times she had gotten messages from the detective they all came from different numbers with the same introduction. This is JYP. The different numbers Dahyun could settle with, she just wasn’t sure why it was all through texts. It felt like anyone who was older than her would criticize her and the other ‘youth’ for texting in serious conversation instead of just calling each other. Detective Park was older than her, at least 25 years older. She just wasn’t sure why he wouldn’t call her. 

She rounded the corner and could see the café. The café. Why were they meeting at a café? Wouldn’t it make sense to meet at the station? She figured the only way to get answers would be to ask him herself. All the confusion, she quickly rolled her eyes and grabbed onto the door handle. 

The café was out of a hipster’s dream. Wooden floors, mason jars used as light bulb covers and, wooden plank tables. Baristas wearing toques over top of wild hair colours. Looking at them, Dahyun was kind of jealous. There were a few colours she herself wanted to try. 

As she stepped forward, she saw him sitting there. One leg crossed over the other, one arm resting on the table and the other holding a mug he was taking a sip of. It was like a still from a magazine. Every time Dahyun saw him he was so put together. 

Dahyun approached the table and stepped into his field of view. 

“Afternoon Detective Park,” she said as she pulled out the chair and sat down. 

“Afternoon Miss Kim,” he replied before taking another sip. “I’m sorry I didn’t order anything for you. I don’t know what you drink so I just asked them to check in when you arrived.”

It was almost like him saying that made the barista appear with his tablet ready to take Dahyun’s order. She ordered her safe pick, a green tea with one milk.   
“How have you been doing since our last chat?” he asked and leaned back in his seat. 

“Busy with school for the most part. Exams are coming up so preparing for those has taken a lot of time.” She said hiding behind a smile. “But in terms of the case, nothing new has come up.”

“That’s alright. We hit a dead end, I wouldn’t expect you to show up today with anything more than we had.” He tilted his head to the side and focused his eyes on her. “What were your concerns about Mark?” 

Dahyun’s timid hands tugged on the hem of her skirt. The barista came back and placed the green tea down in front of her. She nodded to him and looked back at the detective in front of her. 

“Well, he runs out of the house every morning when we get there. He pushes past us, out of the door, and she speeds down the road.” Dahyun explained while grabbing on to her mug. 

“Has he ever said anything about where he goes?”

Dahyun shook her head in response. 

“One time I had to call him because his son was sick, when he picked up it sounded like there were a lot of people talking in the background but I couldn’t make out anything…” Dahyun paused.

“Hmm, I’m not sure that will help so much. He could’ve been anywhere that had people around him.”

“I guess what was concerning was the phone call I got after that…” Dahyun trailed off trying to remember what the mysterious phone call said. 

“There was a phone call?” His tone turned serious.

“Yeah… They didn’t say who they were. They thought I was Mark picking up the phone and then they said something about taking care of a situation they had or something.”   
Detective Park brought one hand resting on his chin. He looked down at the table with focused eyes. 

“What else did they say?” 

“Nothing. When I said Mark wasn’t there, they immediately hung up the phone. When Mark came home, he asked if the phone had rang. I lied and said it didn’t.”

“So he was expecting that phone call. He misjudged the amount of time it would take to get home. He thought he was going to be there for it.” He nodded his head and looked up at Dahyun again. “Do you have any clue of who was on the other end of that phone? Has he said anything about anyone else.”

“No… But I saw Mark argue with some other person at the funeral. He said he was a friend of Taeyeon in University. It looked like he and Mark were getting into it.” Dahyun wondered if that man was the ‘other man’ that Sian kept talking about. 

“What’s on your mind? You’re thinking about something right now.” 

He knew something was bothering her. 

“Well, Sian has been talking about some ‘other man.’ Apparently Mark and Taeyeon fought a lot after this person started coming by the house more often. I don’t know, I thought maybe he was…”

“You thought he could be the other 

man. It’s possible. But you said they were fighting a lot more?”

“That’s what Sian said…”

“Miss Kim, is there anything else I should know about?”

“One last thing, at the bank, I heard Mark get into an argument about his money with a loan officer. He was asking for a loan that was being denied.” 

“Okay, that sounds like a lot to look into. I’ll bring this back to the station and we’ll have a look into his financial situation and his phone calls. I’m just going to ask you to find out as much about this ‘other man’ as possible. Can you do that?”

Dahyun nodded. 

“Thank you for coming by here today. You’re helping us fight the good fight.” Detective Park stood up and began to turn.   
If Dahyun didn’t ask now, she would never get the answers to her questions. 

“Detective Park I just have a question…”

“Go ahead, please.”

“Why did we meet at a coffee shop. I’m sorry, it’s just something I’ve been wondering since I was on my way here. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to meet at the station?”   
The Detective let out a light chuckle and a sly smirk. It was oddly charming. It was something about him that had an allure. 

“Well, as a Detective I’m lucky that things aren’t so formal for me. Generally I can set up meetings wherever is comfortable for the person I’m meeting with. I figured a coffee shop like this would be a comfortable place for someone around your age…. Then again I could’ve been wrong…” He raised an eyebrow at her. 

“No, no, that’s not it.”

“That’s good. Besides, I figured after last time, you had enough of the station.” 

Dahyun couldn’t argue with that. Even though she was only there for a few hours, it felt like she had been there for a few days. That place really did drain the life out of you. 

“Yeah, I guess I didn’t consider that.” Dahyun replied with a forced smile. 

“Not a problem. Speaking of the station, I need to get back. Keep an eye on your phone, we’ll be in touch.” The detective said before walking out of the door.

Dahyun watched him the entire way out of the café and on to the sidewalk. He didn’t even make it three steps before he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a cigarette, his zippo lighter, flicked it open, and sparked his cigarette. 

Looking down at her empty mug, she figured she didn’t need to be there anymore. She slowly stood up, headed out of the store and made her way back to campus. 

As she made onto the border of campus, the surprise she didn’t realize she needed was there waiting for her. 

Leaning against a light post was a Sana dressed in jeans, an opened trench coat and a white shirt. Her smile was nice and bright as she waited for Dahyun to get to her. Dahyun picked up her pace and moved over to Sana. They had hungout since their visit to the police station but they never talked about it. For the first time, Dahyun felt like she didn’t need to talk about it. They both finally sorted it out. Sana had mentioned that she thought it was a bit odd that the detective didn’t want to set up meetings with her, but always left it at that. 

Ever since though, their hangouts had been amazing. It felt like that night hiding out under the blankets during the storm. The day of their first kiss. Every time she thought that kiss, about she smiled like a school girl talking about her crush. She felt that same smile creep up on her face as she was walking over to her ‘not girlfriend.’ On the outside, her smile was shining but on the inside she couldn’t help but worry. They always avoided each other on campus because they were worried about running into their castmates. Much like the beginning, Dahyun’s castmates still didn’t know about her sexuality and more importantly, Sana and Dahyun hadn’t been open about their relationship. 

“Ta da,” Sana cheered as she welcomed Dahyun into her arms. “I was wondering when you were finally gonna get back to campus. I was starting to get worried you took a different route.” 

“What are you doing here?” Dahyun asked as she pulled back from the hug. 

“Well we’re all going to Jihyo’s place tonight, I thought it’d be nice to get some quality time with my girl before we have to go.” 

My girl.

Dahyun’s heart jumped. She didn’t get to hear it often, but every time she did, she melted. She wanted to say something back but she couldn’t. Whenever she got a compliment, whether it was from her friends, her parents, or her now ‘not girlfriend,’ 

“What? Do you not want me here?” Sana teased.

“No not that at all.” Dahyun brought herself back. “What if anyone sees us?”

“It’s a university campus where people run into each other all the time. Who’s to say we didn’t run into each other? Besides, don’t you think it’s time we talked about it with others? I mean Nayeon and Jeongyeon have been dating forever and they’re in the cast together.” 

“I know, but they’re seniors. We’re kind of new to the group. I’m not sure. I want to as well, it just doesn’t seem right yet.” 

Sana sighed lightly and looked into Dahyun’s eyes. 

“Okay, whatever you say Dahyunnie.” 

The two made their way through campus. Sana didn’t even bother asking about the meeting with Detective Park. Instead, she moved on to making bets about the things that were going to happen at the gathering later that evening. 

The first prediction was that Nayeon was going to get drunk and offer and apology to everyone in the form of a big speech. Mina was going to be glued to Chaeyoung’s side the entire night. Tzuyu was going to limit herself to only a few sentences and Jihyo was going to try to get her to open up. Lastly, and the one Sana seemed to be the most interested in, was Momo. 

“I think Momo is going to be attached to you the entire night,” Sana said while closing her locker and retrieving her bag. “She seems to be really close to you lately.”   
“Yeah I’ve noticed that to be honest.” 

“I would hope so, she’s practically all over you any time we’re all together.” Sana sounded a bit more disappointed. 

“I think she’s just trying to get into character.” Dahyun replied. 

“I really hope that’s the case.” Sana narrowed her eyes at Dahyun before starting to walk towards the door. 

Dahyun quickly ran to catch up to Sana. She felt like she needed to say something. She didn’t want to go to a party with Sana when she was upset at her. Any way that could save her she was willing to do it. Would a kiss save that? Now wasn’t the time. They were out in public. She didn’t want anyone to see. After their stop at the liquor store they would be at the apartment waiting for Chaeyoung. They would be alone for a little bit, maybe she could steal a kiss and show Sana that there was nothing to worry about. Sana’s voice broke her concentration. 

“I don’t know if I like the idea of other people trying to get my girl.” Sana smirked and reached for Dahyun to pull her closer. 

Yet again she couldn’t make a response. She just smiled brightly showing her rosy cheeks. Surely, Sana knew how to make Dahyun melt and she wasn’t going to stop any time soon. 

After their stop at the liquor store, they found Chaeyoung waiting at home for them. She explained that her professor ended lecture early and she took the opportunity to make it home and get changed. After their preparations, the three girls hailed a cab and made way for Jihyo’s apartment. 

Despite being Jihyo’s apartment, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu were greeted at the door by the same bunny toothed smile as last time. Nayeon led them in and directed them towards the kitchen. 

Jihyo’s apartment was just what Dahyun had expected it to be. Things were elegant and sophisticated. Everything was neatly placed on shelves. Even the coffee table in the living room had the magazines and coasters organized perfectly. Her socks slid slightly with every step she took on the hardwood floor. With how this apartment was, Jihyo must have been paying a fortune in rent. For Jihyo I’m sure it wasn’t bad. All the money she needed to pay tuition was made up for both in her Summer jobs and her scholarship. With everything she was earning, her tuition was covered and she was able to get a place that was close to campus. Everything that was this close to campus was really nice. 

In the kitchen, Jihyo was scrambling back and forth in order to make sure all of the snacks were put out. On the island in front of her were several plastic bowls of different colours which had chips, pretzels, trail mix, and different kinds of chocolates. 

“Hey! Glad you guys made it. I guess that means we’re only waiting on Momo and Mina.” Jihyo said as she put down her snacks and hugging each of her castmates. As she got to Dahyun she placed her hand over the hidden wound in her arm. “How are you doing?” 

“I’m feeling great,” Dahyun responded with a smile. The first time she was ever able to say that honestly. Jihyo lightly gripped her shoulder, smiled back, and walked back to the bowls. 

“Do you need any help?” Chaeyoung asked as she placed their bag down on the island. 

“No no, go join everyone else in the other room. I just need to put out the snacks and then we can open the wine,” Jihyo said with a sly grin. 

“So you need to put the snacks out?” Sana asked as she grabbed on to a bowl and motioned the other two to each pick up a bowl. 

Dahyun and Chaeyoung followed suit and grabbed their own bowl before heading out to the other room. They placed the snacks down on the table before greeting their other castmates. After Nayeon’s blow up at rehearsal, Jeongyeon was happy to see that everyone was able to make it. Tzuyu was excited to see Dahyun and Chaeyoung. Since the beginning of the semester they hadn’t had the opportunity to hangout in their usual trio. Tzuyu went straight to Chaeyoung with a hug. When she got to Dahyun she took a look at her before glancing over to Sana. Then looking back and forth between the two girls. 

“Glad you two came together,” Tzuyu chuckled before walking away. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dahyun responded to Tzuyu’s back. 

The girls all got settled into the couches. Sana and Dahyun happened to sit next to each other and everyone seemed to not pay attention, except for Tzuyu who was constantly flashing looks and smirks her way. Jihyo emerged from the kitchen with her apron off. She was wearing a sweater and black leggings. She sat herself down beside Chaeyoung, took a deep breath, and sank back in the couch. 

The debate was present and real. Were they going to wait for Momo and Mina before they opened up the bottles of wine. For the most part, the girls were all for opening up the wine, they were just concerned Momo and Mina would be upset that no one waited for them. 

“I just don’t want them to feel left out…” Jihyo trailed off as she worked on finishing a brad in Chaeyoung’s hair. 

“I’m sure they won’t feel left out. They’re still coming here aren’t they?” Sana replied.

“I agree, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Jeongyeon added. 

Nayeon lept up from her seat with her finger pointed in the air. 

“What if we pour them a glass for when they get here? That way when they show up they will have something ready for them.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. It seemed like the perfect plan. Except throughout the entire debate, no one heard the door open. Momo and Mina walked into the living room carrying the bottles of wine and several glasses. 

“It sounds like you really wanted to get into the wine…” Momo laughed as she placed the glasses down on the table. 

“Sorry we’re late,” Mina added on. “The traffic wasn’t the greatest and Momo took longer than I thought to get ready,” she said, placing the bottles of wine down on the table. 

“What? I need to make sure I was all fresh for tonight.” Momo giggled as she went around giving everyone their hugs. 

Momo barely got the sentence out of her mouth before Sana turned and gave Dahyun the look. Dahyun shook her head and turned back towards the rest of the room. Momo dropped herself down beside Dahyun, gave her the biggest hug, and let her head fall down on her shoulder. 

Dahyun bounced up. The slight jab of Sana’s finger in her side was enough to say that Sana wasn’t buying it. 

“Alright, since everyone is here, let’s open that wine!” Jihyo exclaimed before grabbing her cork screw. 

With the bottles open and several glasses down, the girls were starting to feel it. Dahyun could definitely feel it. She didn’t feel it enough to be drunk, but she definitely felt a buzz going. She wasn’t sure she could say the same for Sana. Sana was getting touchy. She was always reaching for Dahyun’s hand or playing with her hair. No matter what movement she made, a less than sober Tzuyu was giving her the eyes. Dahyun just felt lucky that Tzuyu wasn’t saying anything. Jihyo was laughing at everything that was being said. It was easy to tell that she was loving every single moment of having everyone together. Chaeyoung was the one who was having the most difficulty handling her alcohol. Chaeyoung was sleeping on Mina’s shoulder. She had the biggest smile on her face. Momo was still hanging on to Dahyun and Tzuyu was silently watching everything in front of her play out. 

In a sudden movement, Nayeon stood up from her seat and wobbled side to side. Jeongyeon tried to get her to sit back down but Nayeon seemed persistent. Was this it? Was this final part of the bet to give Sana and Dahyun a perfect score card?

“Everyone, I need your attention please!” Nayeon called out. Very slowly, everyone turned their heads to give her the best attention that they could. “At the last rehearsal we were all at…” Nayeon took a pause to take a breath, “I said some pretty hurtful things to her.” Nayeon pointed straight at Jihyo. Jihyo was trying her best to keep herself from laughing. “I was pretty sad, I didn’t mean any of it. I already apologized to Jihyo, but I need to tell everyone I’m sorry. I ruined a rehearsal and that’s not okay. Everyone, I’m sorry! I won’t do that again!” Nayeon emphasized her final point before sitting back down beside Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon hugged Nayeon. 

As she sat down the entire room applauded. Jihyo quickly shushed them to remind them of the time. She definitely didn’t want to risk getting in trouble this late into the night. Nayeon shyed away from everyone. 

“Sorry about that. Ever since that day she’s felt bad. She found herself having a hard time admitting it and wanted to use tonight in order to apologize to everyone.” Jeongyeon said as she rubbed Nayeon’s back. In a gesture of affirmation, Nayeon simply nodded her head. 

Before they went back to their regular conversation, Dahyun felt Sana poke her once again. It looks like Sana was right. Sana really knew her castmates. 

Not much long after the night started to die down. The girls were starting to feel tired and ultimately made the decision to call it there. Everyone was sure to say their goodbyes and made their own way home.

Back at the apartment, Dahyun and Sana said their goodnight to Chaeyoung before moving down the hallway to Dahyun’s room. Despite having a difficulty standing up straight, Sana was able to step out of her jeans and into some pajamas. Dahyun was happy she decided to wear a skirt that day, changing into her pajamas proved to be much easier. The two settled into the bed right beside each other. Their heads hit the pillows and they were looking into each other’s eyes.   
Beautiful. 

It was so easy for Dahyun to get lost in every single part of Sana. She felt a sensation up her side. Sana’s hands were gripping her waist. 

“I really like you, you know that?” Sana said, softly looking into Dahyun’s eyes. 

“I do know that,” Dahyun chuckled. 

“Are you going to say it back? I’m going to be really sad if you don’t say it back.” Sana bobbled through her words, the wine still on her breath. 

“Sana, I really like you too,” Dahyun replied. 

“Okay good.” Sana giggled. 

Her eyes went soft again. Dahyun didn’t know what to do with herself. When Sana was like this she was almost irresistible. Dahyun felt her arms wrap around Sana’s waist, the same way her arms were around her own.

“I also really like Momo, but not the same way that I really like you. I just don’t know if I really like it when she gives you that much attention.” Sana took a deep breath before letting herself settle in next to Dahyun. 

“Sana-“

“She’s really nice and she’s one of my best friends but-“

“Sana you don’t have to worry. I really like you, remember? That’s all that is important.” Dahyun re-assured her ‘not-girlfriend.’ The more and more they talked like that, the more she wanted to look into just making their relationship official. 

Dahyun found herself just looking into Sana’s eyes again. She felt her heart start to beat. Just sitting in silence and looking at each other like that was making her feel anxious. She needed to fill the silence.

“Didn’t you hear what Jeongyeon was saying today?” Dahyun spat out the first thing that came to her mind. 

“About Nayeon? I don’t know, she said a lot of stuff…”

“Not about Nayeon. She said that the last time she was babysitting she noticed an unfamiliar car sitting in front of the house.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I thought maybe it was the police but I’m not fully sure…”

“No, I mean, you have a hot girl laying next to you and that’s what you’re thinking about.” Sana begin tracing her fingers along the hem of Dahyun’s pajama shirt. The sensation shocked Dahyun into paralysis. 

Looking at her like this, the temptation was rising again. Dahyun looked into Sana’s eyes and then down at her lips. As her eyes fell down Sana moistened her lips. As she brought her eyes back up to Sana’s she found Sana returning her eyes again. She felt her shirt lift a little bit more. The feeling of skin on skin contact was enough to make Dahyun jump again. She felt fingers slowly make their way up her stomach towards her chest. 

She could feel her body lean towards Sana. This was the first time she ever felt something like this. She moistened her lips and looked at Sana. Sana slowly closed her eyes and started leaning forward. 

Was this the kiss she was waiting for since the Summer? This was the build up that she was hoping for. Dahyun slowly closed her eyes and felt herself leaning forward. 

Her mind started flaring. The smell of alcohol filled her nose and clouded her head. She liked Sana and liked her a lot. But there was no way she was going to let herself do this. As much as she wanted to take this kiss, she could never justify it. Sana was drunk and so was Dahyun. It wasn’t right. Everything between Sana and Dahyun was special. If she wanted to steal the kiss from her, she had to do it when they were both sober enough to appreciate it. 

She quickly opened her eyes, pushed Sana’s hands down and out from under her shirt. She quickly placed Sana’s hands in her own. 

“Sana, as tempted as I am, as much as I want to, I can’t.” Dahyun said with a shy smile. 

“Why not Dahyunnie?” Sana asked, blinking her heavy eyes. 

“It wouldn’t be right if we did anything right now. How about we just cuddle and get some sleep?” Dahyun suggested instead. 

Sana simply nodded her head as she felt her eyes close and dropped her head on to Dahyun’s chest. Dahyun rubbed her back with one hand and felt her eyelids turn heavy.   
Everything about today was good. It was the first great day Dahyun had in a long time. The only thing to be concerned about was Momo’s attention to Dahyun. It seemed like Sana was letting herself get a bit more jealous than she liked to admit. But with every time Dahyun was able to get her alone time, that jealousy started to fade away. 

As she traced her hands up and down Sana’s back, she thought back to what Jeongyeon had said. Detective Park never said anything about staking out Mark’s house. She thought of ‘the other man.’ Her fears and concerns permeated into her dreams that night. 

No longer were the dreams of standing on the beach and having a gun being pressed in her face. This was the first night she had this dream. 

She was standing in Mark’s house. She walked towards the front window where she saw the same mysterious car in front of the house. This dream was the first and only one to not become a nightmare. As she approached the pane of glass she saw a shadowed man, just like the one Dahyun had seen a drawing of in Sian’s room, standing beside the car. The scene before her played on repeat over and over again throughout the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I am back with another update. This one took a bit longer to get out because I was working on exams, papers, and then final papers, and final exams! I just wrapped up my final exams and I am super excited to share this chapter with you all!
> 
> To any new readers, welcome to the story, I hope you've been enjoying the adventure so far! To the readers who have been following for a long time, thank you so much for your continuous support! I hope you all get the opportunity to enjoy the holidays and take some time for yourself!
> 
> For anyone who didn't see it last time, I linked my instagram to celebrate making it to 1000 readers! In case you missed it, my instagram is:
> 
> insta: dawson_w98
> 
> As always, please be sure to leave comments! Let me know what you think, how you feel, and any feedback you may have!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> OP


	12. The Other Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone I am back! 
> 
> This chapter took a little bit longer than I expected due to some unforeseen writer's block, and some foreseen academic responsibilities. I am so excited to bring this chapter to everyone! Thank you so everyone who has stuck with me throughout this long hiatus and to all of the new readers who are back. I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy the story!
> 
> As always, please be sure to leave comments for feedback and bookmark!
> 
> Insta- dawsonw98

It was the first snowfall of the year. The powdered crystals fell from the sky, intertwined with the grass, and settled in layers. There was always something about the first snowfall that got Dahyun in the Winter spirit. What came with snow and winter was Christmas. Markets would open up and the city would be dressed up in festive decorations. 

As Dahyun mad her way down the streets she saw homeowners and storeowners alike stringing up lights, decorating their windows with decals, and putting out plastic snowmen. She had just spent another night with Sana. Got to bed in her arms and got to wake up in the same place. Dahyun thought about her relationship with Sana. She was surprised. After going to the police, she was sure that her relationship was going to take a turn for the worst. Needless to say, she was more than happy when Sana was calling her to hangout and spend nights together. 

As she turned the corner, she looked up to the snowflakes which fell on to her nose. The sensation she felt reminded her of the night before. Cuddled up in bed Sana’s hands were found on Dahyun’s waist. Since the night of Jihyo’s party Dahyun was finding Sana’s hands on her waist more and more often. She wasn’t complaining though. She definitely liked having her ‘not girlfriend’ right up against her. 

The more she thought about that phrase the more she wanted to change that title. Sana continuously called her ‘my girl.’ Hearing Sana’s voice in her head say it was enough to make her brain lag. A smile broke her face. ‘My girl,’ Dahyun wished she could call Sana hers. For her, it seemed wrong when they weren’t official. Based on the way things were going it didn’t seem like Sana was making the first move. In all other aspects Sana was ready to make the first move. Their first, and only, kiss. Their nights at cast parties where Sana would cuddle Dahyun in a room full of their peers. Their impromptu dates on campus disguised as running into each other. Their time in Dahyun’s bed where Sana’s hands started to creep up under Dahyun’s shirt. Sana was always the one to make the first move, but when it came to making their relationship official, it felt like Sana was taking the back seat. She really wanted to. She really wanted to be the one to ask her but she wasn’t sure if that was the right choice. This would have been the first time she ever asked someone out. 

All throughout high school she never really dated anyone. She would occasionally get asked out by different boys. Every now and then she would entertain the question but each and every time she wasn’t interested. Through all of this, she never took the opportunity to ask out any of the people she took an interest in. Throughout high school Chaeyoung was the opposite. If there was someone Chaeyoung was interested in, she asked them out. She went on a date, and then decided whether or not she was interested in setting another date. If there was anyone that Dahyun could go to advice, she knew she could count on Chaeng. She pulled out her phone and queued up a message to her roommate. 

She rounded the corner and was only a few houses down from Mark’s house. She was on babysitting duty with Mina. She knew she could always look forward to a good babysitting shift when she was partnered up with Mina. 

As she walked up to the door there was no car left in the driveway. Based on the tire tracks leading from the driveway and for the short stretch of road leading from the house, Mark left the house in a hurry again. That was another thing she was going to need to include in the weekly report she sent to Detective Park. 

Each of her meetings with Detective Park had become a bit more intense. It seemed like his questions were becoming more and more specific but Dahyun didn’t mind. He was a detective. It was his job to put the pieces together and based on the picture he was painting, he was looking at Mark as the prime suspect. The thought of Mark actually doing something like that shocked Dahyun to her core. She gripped the doorknob with a shaking hand, opened the door, and stepped inside. 

“Dahyunnie is finally here!” The toddler yelled and hugged Dahyun’s legs, burying his face in her thighs like every time. 

“I don’t remember you getting that excited when I got here young man,” Mina teased as she stood up from her spot on the floor and walked over. 

“No, no, I was!” He defended himself. “I am sorry I didn’t show it when you got here. I really mean it!” He got off of Dahyun and ran to Mina hugging her the same way. Mina looked down at the Toddler before lifting her gaze back to Dahyun and giving her a sly wink. 

“I don’t think I have any other choice than believing you after giving me that great of a hug,” Mina said while ruffling his hair. He quickly turned back on his heels and ran back to his selection of toys for the day. 

“How are you doing?” Mina asked as she placed herself on the couch and clutched onto a pillow. 

“Not bad, school is just really busy. What about you?” 

“Oh you know, pretty much the same. Just trying to keep up with everything.” Mina turned and looked at Dahyun with inquisitive eyes. “You definitely seem a lot better than the first time we babysat together. I’m really glad.”

“Really? I definitely do feel better than I did last time. I’m just glad it shows on the outside too.” Dahyun chuckled on the outside, but on the inside, she was doing everything she could to contain her excitement. For so long it had always seemed like she was hiding something. She knew she was hiding something, but it was apparent to everyone else that she was too. This was the first time she felt like she wasn’t showing she was hiding anything. 

“What changed? Did you find a special someone in the meantime that you aren’t telling us about?” Mina softly nudged Dahyun with her elbow. 

“What? No!” Dahyun responded instantly. Technically she wasn’t lying, Dahyun thought to herself. She had been seeing Sana since before anything had happened. 

“That seemed rather strong of a response…” Mina trailed off with a slight chuckle. 

“Sorry it just caught me off guard. But…” Dahyun was interrupted by her phone buzzing. 

“Oh! Is that them now?” Mina poked at Dahyun. 

“No, it’s Chaeyoung.” Dahyun deflected the conversation. 

“Tell her I said hello and thank you,” Mina said while raising her eyebrows. “I have to run to the washroom…”

“Dad says its not safe to run in the house,” Sian interjected. 

“I have to safely walk to the washroom,” Mina corrected herself earning a giggle in response. “When I get back, we’ll get food sorted out.” 

Dahyun nodded in response while Mina lifted herself from the couch and headed to the washroom. 

“What’s up?” Chaeyoung’s message read out. 

“Did you tell Mina about Sana and I?” Dahyun quickly fired the message off. Mina was acting suspicious. She only ever did that if she was up to something or if she knew something that other people didn’t know that she knew. 

“No…. Why?” 

“She asked me if I was dating anyone and didn’t want to believe me when I said I wasn’t.” 

“I didn’t tell her anything. We haven’t hungout for a week. Is that seriously why you texted me?”

“No. Should I ask Sana to make it official?”

“FINALLY! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD NEVER ASK!” Dahyun received Chaeyoung’s text message in all capital letters. She should have expected this response. Where Dahyun had started to think about bringing this topic up to Sana, Chaeyoung had been asking Dahyun about this since the start of the school year. “Just do it!”

“I messaged you because I don’t know how…”

“It’s easy. Since you’re my friend, and you’re actually listening to me for once, I’ll make this real easy for you. The next time you two are hanging out, just ask her. Just say ‘Sana, can you be my girlfriend?”

“That seems harder than you make it”

“Nope! Just do it! I gotta go, no time to argue.”

“Okay, okay. Mina says hi btw”

“HI MINA”

Dahyun dropped her phone beside her on the couch and took a deep breath. Was it really as simple as just asking Sana to be her girlfriend?

“Dahyunnie, can we go play outside? I haven’t gotten to play in the snow since last year!” Sian took his attention from his toys on the floor and jumped up to Dahyun. 

“Hmm, after lunch we can see if we can do that.” She responded. 

Sian jumped up and down, throwing his hands in the air. He cheered in excitement as he fell back down to his toys. 

“What’s all that commotion?” Mina asked while walking back into the room. 

“Dahyun said we could play in the snow after lunchtime!” Sian cheered as he ran over to Mina. 

“Dahyun is right! After lunchtime would be a great time to do that.” She picked up Sian and he placed his hands around her shoulders. “What do you want to eat for lunch?” 

“Pizza!” 

“We’ll have to see what we can do about that…” Mina responded. Once again she shot that same sly wink. She started to head towards the kitchen.

“Chaeyoung says hi back by the way!” Dahyun called out to her. Mina quickly popped her head back into the room, brandishing her patented gummy smile. 

Dahyun stood up from the couch and stretched. She was actually considering it. She was tempted to ask Sana to come over that night just so she could ask her. If she asked her, she was sure Sana was going to say yes. She had to right? They had been seeing each other for a long time. They had experienced no other couple should have to experience and they worked through it. They were spending more and more nights together. Sana’s hands started to find themselves crawling up under Dahyun’s shirt. This seemed like the most likely next step. It definitely couldn’t be too much. 

She grabbed her phone from its place on the couch and opened her messages app. The easy part should be the invitation to hangout. She could worry about the hard part much later. She opened up their last conversation. She re-read the last message exchanged between them. 

“Have a great day my girl” 

Her fingers started to type out the invitation. She knew she wanted to. She really did. She wasn’t scared of that part of asking Sana to be her girlfriend. She was more scared of the asking her part. Slowly, letter by letter, she entered her message into her phone. With each tap on her screen she wondered if she needed to send that message right now. She wondered if she could just do it another time. If she didn’t do it now, she knew she would probably keep putting it off. She just needed to send the message. No matter how many times her thumb circled the ‘send’ button she couldn’t. She sighed and took a deep breath. Before finishing she felt her phone buzz in her hand. She quickly looked down, hoping the message would be from Sana asking her to come over after babysitting. That message would have taken the burden of invitation off of Dahyun’s shoulders. She took another deep breath when she saw that it was not from Sana. She wondered if this was going to get any easier. 

In opening the message she saw that it came from Momo. 

“Helllooooooo Dahyunnie! I’m going to be in your neck of the woods later today, can I come to your place and rehearse our scene with you? It’s been a while since we’ve practiced it. I couldn’t bear the thought of forgetting my honey ;)” 

Dahyun read the message and thought about what she should do next. She could just say that she wasn’t available and hangout with Sana instead.

But that means she would have to send Sana a message and then follow through with asking her to be her girlfriend. 

But if she were to hangout with Momo, she would get more time to think about the Sana situation and what she should do. 

But if she just invited Sana over, she would be able to get it over with and finally get an answer. 

But Momo was right. They hadn’t rehearsed that scene for a while. They were getting closer and closer to rehearsing the ending scene. That meant they were going to be re-doing the entire show. Dahyun couldn’t afford to forget her scenes with Momo.   
“Sounds good Momo! After babysitting we can run some rehearsal for a bit!” 

Dahyun looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. It was the times like these where she really wished she could just make a plan and stick to it. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was ever going to get the opportunity to end Sana’s time as Dahyun’s ‘not girlfriend.’ 

The phone buzzed in her hand once again.

“Fantastic! See you later! Can’t wait!” 

She closed the app and looked up and out of the front window. It was there. The car that Jeongyeon was talking about. At least it looked like the car Jeongyeon described. It was a black sedan with blacked out wheels. The windows were tinted but they weren’t opaque. The house was far enough away from the car that she couldn’t see inside of it. She had no idea if someone was sitting inside of it. It was just like the car she saw in her dream. Her heart felt heavy and beat hard. Her breathing picked up and her hand started shaking. 

She quickly threw herself down on the couch and turned away from the window. She huddled herself low so she wouldn’t be seen from the window. She began to wonder if that car was there as she walked up to the house earlier that day. Was it possible that it was there the entire time? There’s no way. She remembered what Jeongyeon had said in spades. There was no way she was going to overlook the presence of a creepy car sitting in front of the house of a recently murdered person. She felt like she was being watched. She felt like whatever she was doing in the house was being monitored by someone. 

Could it be possible that someone in the neighbourhood got a new car and was just parking it on the road? Dahyun was sure that was a possibility. But there was something about that car which made it seem ominous. She never saw it show up. She never saw anyone get out of it. She never saw anyone around it. It had a presence that Dahyun couldn’t explain. She stood up and moved to the kitchen. She tried to get as far away from the window as possible. She didn’t like the possibility that someone could be watching all of her moves from afar. 

She walked through the kitchen and sat herself down at the table. Mina was getting ready to pull the pizza out of the oven and Sian anxiously waited in his seat at the table. Mina nodded her head at Dahyun so as to ask her what was up. Dahyun shook her head before turning her gaze to the grains in the wooden table. She couldn’t get her mind off of the car across the street. She felt a small hand grab on to her wrist with a soft voice. 

“Dahyunnie, you have to take some pizza or its going to get cold.” Sian said. 

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for the Pizza Mina,” she shook herself back into her body. 

“No problem,” Mina said as she sat down next to Dahyun. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…” Mina whispered into her ear in an attempt to keep Sian from hearing.   
Dahyun shook her head. She didn’t want to make her worried as they ate. Mina let out a sigh and then sank back into her chair. She squeezed Dahyun’s arm once before reaching out and grabbing a slice of pizza for herself. 

The rest if the meal was silent. Dahyun and Mina hadn’t really said anything to each other. Dahyun was lucky that of all the people she was with, it was Mina. It didn’t matter that Dahyun was making it obvious that something was wrong, Mina can always see these things from a mile away. Even though she knew things were wrong, she would never make someone talk about it. Much like Jihyo, she waited for other people to open up when the time was right for them. 

As the three finished, Sian ran out of the room to go to the washroom. As soon as he made it out of the room and the door to the bathroom closed, Mina gave an inquisitive look over to Dahyun.  
Dahyun pulled at her fingers and took a deep breath. After talking to Jihyo she learned that she was better off just talking to Mina than hiding it. 

“I’m sorry about that… I didn’t want to bring it up in front of Sian.” Dahyun started. 

“What did you not want to bring up in front of Sian?”

“Mina, do you remember what Jeongyeon was talking about the last time we all got together?”

“Dahyun I’m going to be honest, I had a few glasses of wine that night so specific details aren’t really coming to me.”

“It was about the car…”

“What car?”

“The car that started showing up in front of the house.”

Mina took a step back and sat back in her chair. 

“What car are you talking about?”

“There’s a car parked across the street. It only started showing up recently. It’s there right now. I saw it. Something feels off about it. Its like it just looks into the house and-“

“Dahyun someone could have just gotten a new car or maybe someone is visiting.” Mina tried to re-assure her. “I really don’t think that there’s anything to worry about. Besides, I’ve never even seen this car.” 

“It’s there right now. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.” Dahyun said standing up. 

“Where?” 

Dahyun walked into the living room and straight to the front window. She crawled up to the window and looked out. Her jaw dropped and she lowered her head. The softest steps walked up behind her. She felt two hands rest on her shoulder blades. 

“Dahyun, where’s the car?” 

The street was empty. There wasn’t a car anywhere close to the house.

“Is your mind playing tricks on you or something?” Mina chuckled while dropping herself on the couch beside Dahyun. 

Could she have imagined it? There was no way. She swore the car had been there. She was sure it was the exact same one Jeongyeon had talked about. She wasn’t the only one who had seen it. She knew she wasn’t going crazy. 

“I swear I saw it…” 

“Well there’s nothing out there anymore. You really need some rest.” 

“No it’s not that its-“

“Dahyun why don’t you head home? Mark will be home soon and I’ve got Sian on lock.”

“I can stay tr-“ 

“I insist,” Mina said while pulling Dahyun off the couch and leading her to the door. “Go home and get some rest.”

Instead of arguing, Dahyun nodded her head and stepped into her boots. Before she left, Sian came running out of the bathroom. Disappointed to see Dahyun go, Mina made sure to re-assure him that she would be back soon enough to babysit. Luckily for Dahyun, that was enough to keep Sian from getting too upset and crying. Before she left, she made sure to thank Mina for letting her go home early. It gave her the opportunity to tidy up the apartment a little bit before Momo showed up for their rehearsal.   
The trip home was full of thought. She couldn’t take her mind off of the car. Even if it wasn’t in front of the house, it was there in the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t stop visualizing it. As she tidied up her living room, washed the dishes, put out some snacks, and reviewed her script the only thing she could focus on was the car. Sitting on the couch couldn’t bring her any sort of clarity. With trembling hands, she dropped the script on the table and clenched her hands into fists. 

She took a deep breath and sank back into her seat. She tried to adjust herself. She tried laying down on the couch. She let out an exhausted groan before pulling herself off the couch standing in her living room. She looked over to the windowsill. Without hesitation she walked over and pulled herself onto the ledge, sat down, and leaned her head against the cool glass pane. 

As she felt the cold press against the side of her head her head went clear. Instead of the jumbled thoughts she had her clarity. Her mind transferred from the car itself to who was behind the wheel. She wondered if it was Mark. Ever since Dahyun had answered the phone while babysitting, Mark was being more careful around the girls. Was he driving a different car and spying on the girls while they were babysitting? Was there something that he was hiding and was worried the girls might find? It seemed wrong, but it didn’t seem like it was out of the question. Something seemed wrong with the thought of Mark buying a new car. 

Dahyun took a deep breath. She remembered that day at the bank. He was there, arguing with the loan officer. Could he have gotten that loan? Was he renting a car with the money from that loan? Even with a clear mind, she couldn’t figure out why he was trying to get a loan. He and Taeyeon had a house, their own car, the money to take care of Sian, and even enough to buy rights to the show they had been rehearsing for.

What if Mark wasn’t the person in the car? There was still the ‘other man.’ The fact that Dahyun knew nothing about this person made her feel more uneasy. She almost wished that if the car was watching the house, it was Mark. If the mystery man was watching over the house, she didn’t know how much danger she could be in. There was no answer as to how much this person knew about the girls or Mark’s family. 

A knock at the door shocked Dahyun out of her deep thought. Quickly hopping off of the windowsill and opening the door, she found Momo with a beaming smile. 

“Hello my honey!” Momo exclaimed throwing her arms around Dahyun’s neck. 

“Hey Momo, how did you get up here?” 

“Someone was going inside at the same time as me and I walked in behind them. Took the elevator all the way up here to you.” She said lightly poking Dahyun’s nose. 

Dahyun recoiled from the poke but let out a little giggle. The two girls walked back into the apartment and sat down on the couch beside one another. Momo pulled her script out of her backpack along with a bag of snacks. She placed the script onto the table and dropped the bag of snacks into Dahyun’s lap. 

“I almost forgot! Before you made it home, I grabbed some of your favourite snacks for you.” 

“Oh thanks Momo! That’s too sweet of you,”

“But definitely not as sweet as you” Momo cuddled up close to Dahyun. 

Dahyun felt Momo’s cheek brushing right up against her own. She felt her arms shaking and a shortness of breath. She wasn’t quite sure what to do. 

“Let’s get to rehearsal, shall we?” Dahyun swallowed hard hoping to get the process going. 

“If you say so,” Momo winked back. 

After an hour of working on their romantically charged scene they decided to call it quits. At the end of the scene the two are cuddled up on the bench looking into each other’s eyes. The characters had finally realized their feelings for one another and confessed. In the real world Dahyun was sitting on her couch, legs swung over Momo’s, and fingers locked behind Momo’s neck. Momo’s arms were on Dahyun’s waist and was looking straight into Dahyun’s eyes. 

“That was unbelievable Dahyun, you’re so talented!” Momo slowly breathed. 

“No, no, that’s too much. You’re too kind. You’re a great actress” Dahyun replied. 

“This scene feels just as good as I remember it.” 

“Yeah I’m surprised I still had it” Dahyun chuckled. 

“I’m not, I can totally feel the connection. It’s so real”

“I agree, it feels great!”

The girls still hadn’t moved. Momo was still gazing into Dahyun’s eyes. Dahyun was shifting her eyes to everywhere else in the room but whenever she looked back, Momo’s look got increasingly soft. Her eyes started falling from Dahyun’s eyes to Dahyun’s lips. Momo took a nibble on her bottom lip before slowly closing her eyes. Momo slowly started leaning forwards, lips poised ready to plant themselves on Dahyun. 

“Woah what are you doing?” Dahyun recoiled putting her hands on Momo’s shoulders, pushing her back. Dahyun was shocked. She didn’t know if she was still in rehearsal. They had never decided on a kiss. 

“Oh my God I’m so sorry,” Momo slid to the other side of the couch. 

“Momo what was-“ 

“I’m sorry, it’s just, you said that you could feel the connection. Since rehearsals I’ve started to get feelings for you, I didn’t know what to do about it.”

“I don’t…”

“On the way to the party Mina told me that she was going to do some digging for me to see if you were single. We don’t know that much about you outside of rehearsal so it was pretty tough. We never saw you talk to or about any guys you were interested in, so I figured that maybe you were also into girls.” Momo explained. “Earlier today she said she talked to you and you said you weren’t seeing anyone so I figured I should just go for it. Turns out I was wrong…” Momo concluded. 

“Momo, I’m sorry I just-“

“No, don’t apologize. I guess I just assumed you were gay too. That was wrong… Things have been so weird lately. With the investigation being cancelled and back on, Jeongyeon talking about the weird car in front of the house, and the way Mark has been acting.” An awkward silence sat between the two. 

Dahyun wondered if she should just tell Momo. Not about Sana, but the fact that she would even be into Sana. It’s not like she was actually hiding the fact that she was gay. 

“I’m just gonna go then… Please don’t let my stupidity ruin this show.” Momo said while standing up and going towards the door. 

“Momo wait!” Dahyun called out to her. “Don’t go.”

“Are you… interested?” Momo said while returning to her seat. 

“Momo, I like you a lot. You’re such a great mentor to me, but I don’t think I see you that same way.”

Momo dropped her head, looking down, and taking a deep breath. 

“But! This isn’t something that I talk about openly. You were honest with me, so I think that its only fair that I’m honest with you.” Dahyun reassured Momo. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s just say, I’m attracted to women.” Dahyun confessed. 

Momo’s frown turned into a small smirk. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Are you coming out to me?” 

“No not quite,” Dahyun chuckled. “Chaeyoung and I have been friends since elementary school, she’s known about it as long as I have. I’ve accepted it a long time ago, I just only talk about it if it comes up in conversation…. Kind of like right now…” Dahyun comforted Momo. 

“Thank you for being so honest with me. I feel very honoured.” Momo replied. “Can I give you a hug?”

“Of course,” Dahyun answered before pulling Momo into a tight embrace. 

“Look, I’m sorry about the whole trying to kiss you thing. I’ve been feeling all sorts of weird things but when I got to hangout and talk to you, I felt better. I just thought that…”

“You don’t have to justify anything to me Momo. I get it. Trust me, things have been really weird lately. I also enjoy hanging out with you.”

“Look, I don’t want the whole trying to kiss you thing ruin the show.” 

“The whole what?”

“The trying to ki-“

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We were just rehearsing our scene,” Dahyun winked back. 

“This is why we do so well together” Momo laughed. 

“You got that right,” Dahyun replied. 

There it was. Sana’s intuitions about the entire situation were right. Momo was actually interested in Dahyun. Dahyun couldn’t say she was really surprised, but she was surprised how it all came to light. But what came from it all was the building of a bond between Dahyun and Momo. For the first time since Sana, and joining the cast, she felt comfortable talking about her sexuality with someone. It was a huge first step. They wouldn’t ever be together, but this was a stronger relationship she made with another one of her castmates. One that she hoped would make the road she needed to travel on much easier. 

“I’m going to get some water after that. Do you want any?” Dahyun asked. 

“Sure.” Momo replied with a smile. “Water is a great way to wash down this weird day.”

Dahyun made her way over to the sink and began filling two glasses with water. As she finished filling the second glass she could feel her phone vibrate in her pocket and hear Momo’s vibrate on the table. If they had gotten a message at the same time, there was a good chance it was a message in their group chat. Jihyo often sent out text reminders about upcoming rehearsals or scheduling changes. 

“Speaking of a weird day, what changes has the lady director made this time?” There was no reply on the other end. Dahyun turned around to face her friend. 

Momo was holding her phone in her hands. She was staring at the screen, facing away from Dahyun. 

“Momo what’s going on?”

She slowly turned her head towards Dahyun. Her face was expressionless but her eyes were intensely looking into Dahyun’s once again. Something was wrong. She had never seen Momo act like that before. Not even when she had rejected her feelings. Dahyun swallowed hard and could feel her hands shaking. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. With shaking hands she managed to open the messages app to see a picture uploaded by Nayeon. Just seeing it was enough to make Dahyun’s heart drop. It was beating so hard she had a hard time breathing.

The picture was another newspaper headline. One that read, Investigation for murder of University director back on after cast member witnesses step forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone I am back! 
> 
> This chapter took a little bit longer than I expected due to some unforeseen writer's block, and some foreseen academic responsibilities. I am so excited to bring this chapter to everyone! Thank you so everyone who has stuck with me throughout this long hiatus and to all of the new readers who are back. I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy the story!
> 
> As always, please be sure to leave comments for feedback and bookmark!
> 
> Insta- dawsonw98


	13. Who Knows Who

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Folks!
> 
> Chapter 13 is uploaded and ready to go! Here we get to see the result of the cliffhanger at our last chapter.
> 
> As always, Thank you so much to everyone who is reading for their continued support. I feel so lucky to have readers as dedicated to the story as you are. As times in the world become a bit tense, please be sure to continue taking care of yourselves and those around you. 
> 
> Please be sure to leave feedback in the comments section, and bookmark to make sure you don't miss out on some other updates!
> 
> Most importantly,
> 
> Please enjoy!

Chapter 13: Growing Uncertainty 

She slowly opened her eyes and tried to get a sense of what happened. She couldn’t remember. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. Feeling slowly started returning to her body. The first sensation was one she hoped she could forget. The back of her head was throbbing and felt oddly cold. Her hair in that area was matted and crusty. She felt a bump and her body slightly. She tried to open her eyes even wider to get a better look at her surroundings. Through blurred vision the best she could do was make out was a brown cloth in front of her.   
Not helpful. 

A beam of light spread across her eyes and faded away. Back to the darkness. Another beam of light across her eyes before fading. It seemed rhythmic, almost like there was a pattern to it. The lights seemed to be passing by over her head. With the energy she could muster, she focused her eyes a little harder. They came from the front and passed back behind her head. She felt another bump, and another bounce to follow. With all of the information she could rationally put together in this state, the only guess she could come up with was that she was sitting in a car. Then she could hear it, the hum of the engine as it sped down the road. The engine was loud enough to notice, there was no way this car was moving slow. It was going somewhere, and it was going in a hurry. 

To add to the incessant pain coming from her head, her wrists felt like they were on fire. It felt like someone was gripping on to her wrists and giving her a skin burn. The lights constantly flashing over her made the headache even worse. She closed her eyes and tried to only focus on her wrists. She tried to shift them but whenever she did, they happened to move together. The feeling to her hands slowly started to manifest itself. She was able to start by rotating her wrists. She could now feel the cold sweats coming from her palms, and finally her fingers. She bent her fingers down to her wrists and felt it. Her wrists were bound behind her back.   
She tried to shake her legs awake to little success. Starting at her thighs she could feel the tingling sensation shock down her legs. She tried to rotate her ankles but was unable to get anywhere. They were also bound together. 

Everything started coming back to her all at once. Her heart rate was going as fast as it had ever before. She should have known was now the only thought that filled her head. It was clear. It was all right in front of her. She didn’t know why she doubted herself. Ever since this all began, she knew. 

Her breathing started picking up, but her breath was lost into the piece of tape pressed against her lips. A muffled groan was the only sound she had managed since she came to. Then she heard it. Another set of anxious breaths. She tried to suppress her own breathing anyway she could just to listen. In the seat in front of her was someone gripping the wheel like a person holding on for dear life. The anxious breaths and the rapid mumbles to themselves. 

She was tied up in a car speeding down the road certainly on the way to her fate. The person in front of her was the one who caused all of this pain, all of this suffering. Not only to her, but to everyone around her. She should have known. 

* * *

Dahyun couldn’t move. She couldn’t stop shaking and Momo was staring at her. How much did she know? Did she know that Dahyun was one of two people who saw everything? How could she know? Did Chaeyoung say something to Mina and ask her to stay quiet? Momo and Mina have been especially close recently, Momo’s attempted kiss was evidence of that. There’s no way, Chaeyoung wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t do that to Dahyun after everything that happened.

Was it Jihyo? Jihyo became of the unfortunate people to know everything. She promised that Dahyun and Sana’s secret was safe with her. That was a lot to take on though, Dahyun did tell her to start talking to people about her problems. What if she told Daniel and he went to the news? What if Daniel told other people and they went to the news?  
With her breaths short, heart beating, and fingers pulling at one another, the only thing going through her head were convoluted conspiracy theories on how the news outlets caught wind of the private conversations between two young women and the police.

Dahyun forced herself back to the present. Before she could try to deal with any of those theories she had to deal with what was right in front of her, and what was in front of her was a distraught Momo staring straight at her.

“Who could it have been...?” Momo asked lifelessly looking at Dahyun. “Why wouldn’t they tell us, why wouldn’t they come forward sooner?” Momo rambled on barely taking breaths.

“I don’t know...” Dahyun tried to get something out. She needed to respond. “It couldn’t have been easy...”

“I don’t know who it could’ve been...” Momo managed to get out. “I could have sworn we were all back at the cabins when we heard those gunshots. Could this be fake?” Momo’s breaths also became more rapid. With each breath she began sniffling a little bit more. “If it’s not, someone has had to carry this around...” Momo started going in circles. She must’ve forgotten that Sana wasn’t in the cabin when everything happened. Momo slowly lifted her gaze back at Dahyun.

Dahyun held her breath was this it? Her phone started buzzing in her pocket non-stop. Surely it was Sana panicking about Nayeon’s message. Dahyun kept pressing the power button on her phone to continuously send the phone calls to voice mail. Each and every time she denied one call, she got another one. The amount of buzzes coming from her pocket could not come from just one person. She quickly slipped her phone out of her pocket and found missing calls and panicked messages from Jihyo and Chaeyoung. Sana’s name was not appearing on her phone. Was she in class? Was she napping? Does she not know what to do? Is she worried about it? Has she even seen the message yet? Just another set of questions that needed to, but could not be, answered right now. The only thing that seemed to help ease Dahyun’s mind was that if Jihyo was texting her, she was surely texting Sana.

“It just doesn’t make sense...” Momo’s thinking was becoming circular. It was stuck in a similar loop to Dahyun’s, a bunch of questions that just couldn’t be answered. “I don’t feel well. I... I just want to go home...” Momo stood up and packed her script into her bag. “I feel like I need to be alone right now. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah...” This was Dahyun’s blessing in disguise. Without Momo there, Dahyun didn’t have to worry about putting on an act to avoid suspicion. As much as Dahyun didn’t want to accept it, it was only a matter of time before people began to realize and remember Dahyun and Sana were the only ones not in the cabins when the gunshots were heard. Despite this harsh reality, any opportunity Dahyun got to delay this conversation was welcomed.

It didn’t take long for Momo to grab her bags and leave the apartment. It was the most quiet it had been since Momo first showed up. Dahyun dropped herself on the couch where she had been rehearsing and left her phone on the coffee table. The only sound to be heard was that of Dahyun sinking into the cushion. Without Momo she had the opportunity to try to think about what was going on.

It was clear Momo didn’t remember that Sana wasn’t in the cabin when the gunshots rang out, she already knew that. It was only a matter of time before other people started realizing that Dahyun was missing from the other cabin. She didn’t know what to think and she didn’t know what to do. Everything was happening all at once. If she responded to Nayeon’s message in the chat would it be suspicious? Was it more suspicious if she didn’t respond at all? Would it end up being so bad if people knew her and Sana were the ones who witnessed everything? It’s not like anything would change what’s already happened. But people would be upset that things were still hidden.

Dahyun sighed in frustration. She couldn’t think straight. Instead of answering the questions she had, she kept coming up with more to flood her head with. She looked up to the window sill in her living room. Every time she sat there she seemed to begin to find the answers to her questions. Ever since Taeyeon’s funeral she was able to perch herself up on the window sill, rest her head against the cool glass, and allow her chaotic mind to settle. Clarity was exactly what she needed in this moment. She quickly shot up out of her seat and started to make her way over to her safe haven.

Just as she was about to climb up, the wave of phone buzzing started again. It was buzzing so aggressively that it was starting to slide off of the table. Dahyun rolled her eyes and ran back to the phone. She was so close to getting some clarity but couldn’t afford to both let her phone smash on the ground and let messages go unanswered. She really didn’t know what Jihyo would do if Dahyun didn’t pick up the phone and that was kind of scary.

Dahyun caught the phone just as it slipped off the side of the table and opened it up. There were even more missed calls from Jihyo and Chaeyoung.

“Dahyun, I don’t know if you’ve seen the other messages yet, but I’m with Jihyo right now, you better pick up the phone! She’s starting to scare me...” Was the first message Dahyun was able to read.

Dahyun’s phone rang again. It was Jihyo yet again. She couldn’t avoid it, she needed to answer the call. Dahyun’s hands started trembling once again. Her finger landed on the answer button and swiped it across her phone screen.

“H-hello?” Dahyun stumbled on her words.

“Dahyun why weren’t you answering the phone!? I’ve been calling you for twenty minutes, didn’t you see Nayeon’s message?” Jihyo’s voice was panicked. It was only recently that Dahyun learned how serious a situation was if Jihyo got like this.

“Momo was here...”

“What!?”

“Momo was here when Nayeon sent that message…”

“Did she know?”

“No”

“Thank God. Chaeyoung is with me here in the car. Come downstairs we’re almost here,” Jihyo commanded before hanging up, leaving Dahyun unable to get another word in.   
She did as she was told and ran out of the apartment. She ran out the front door to find Jihyo and Chaeyoung already there waiting for her. Without as much of a word Dahyun was buckled into her seat and peeling off down the road. 

The ride was just what it expected it to be. Jihyo was half checking in on her and half asking her progress on getting a hold of Sana. The second was easier to answer than the first. Sana wasn’t answering any calls from anyone. Knowing Sana, her phone was either off or she was taking a nap. The first was a bit more complicated. She couldn’t fit how she was feeling into one box. She felt tired, working through this on top of meeting with Detective Park always left her tired. She felt down, maybe even worried. It wouldn’t feel right to say she was sad. Concerned was the most proper. Somehow someone knew people stepped forward but the article didn’t say who. Surely they would’ve right? If they knew they would have said so. 

“It’s a lot. It really is. 

Try not to worry as best as you can okay? We’re going to get this figured out.” Jihyo tried to keep Dahyun calm as she pulled into the parking lot of the news office building. 

“We’re right here with you. I won’t let you go through this alone,” Chaeyoung re-assured Dahyun with a gentle hold on Dahyun’s shaking hands. 

“What about Sana?” Dahyun asked.

“Let’s just figure out right now first.” Chaeyoung squeezed Dahyun’s hand. 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Anything you need, I’m here to help.” Jihyo added on, sliding the car into park. 

The three made their way across the parking lot and straight into the offices with Jihyo leading the way. They pushed through the double doors. Dahyun didn’t know what to expect on the other side. She didn’t really know what they were doing there. She wasn’t sure what they were trying to accomplish by being there. But then she heard it. Just beyond the next set of double doors was yelling. It was a yelling so powerful that she would never want herself or anyone she knew to be on the receiving end of. 

“Are you crazy!? What do you think you’re doing?” The voice boomed down the hallway. 

Jihyo didn’t hesitate, she pushed through the doors to watch the scene unfold in front of her. That booming voice was Detective Park. He had what looked like an intern by his shirt. 

“It was just a story… It doesn’t say anything specific.” The intern tried defending himself. 

The door slammed shut behind the girls and drew the attention of the room. They made eye contact. Detective Park looked right at Dahyun and she looked right back. He quickly brought his attention back to the person between his fists. 

“Do you not understand what this means for our investigation? For the progress we were making? Are you too stupid to see what this means for the girls in that cast?” He pushed him up against the wall. 

“Sir it’s not-“

“Because of this, every single one of those girls can be in danger. This was your doing!” He slammed him. 

“But we were given the info from-“

“That’s enough. Now that we have an audience, we can take this elsewhere” Detective Park said as he dragged the intern into another room, closing and locking the doors behind him. 

As the door clicked shut the offices were silent.

Dahyun was shaking violently. She was used to her hands shaking, but not this. It was the kind of shaking that anyone could feel under their skin. She felt herself going weak. Her knees were shaking so much that she felt like she was going to fall at any minute. She felt it in her chest. It was like her heart was shaking around and she felt it in her breaths. They were short and fast. She couldn’t control them. The rapid breath was making her head light. She felt like she was going to pass out before she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“Dahyun everything is going to be okay. Just sit down for now, we’re going to get this figured out,” Jihyo spoke softly was she pulled a chair from one of the desks and helped Dahyun into it. 

Were they really in danger? She always saw things like this in the T.V. shows she watched. The main characters were hot on the case, but they had to watch their every move because someone was on to them. Living their lives on the edge because they didn’t know if and when they might fall off. In all of the time she spent watching those shows, she never once thought that she would ever be in this position. Did she have to watch her every move? Did she have to worry about going to sleep in night in fear that whoever was looking for her would break into the apartment? Was she safe on campus? Did she always need someone with her to keep her safe? Still so many questions and no answers in sight. 

“Chaeyoung can you go get her some water please?” Jihyo asked before squatting down in front of Dahyun to keep herself at eye level. She grabbed Dahyun’s hands, placed them down on their legs, and placed her own hands on top. “Let’s take this one step at a time okay?” 

Dahyun nodded through her breaths. 

“Let’s start with the breathing. Just follow my lead.” Jihyo took deep inhales and slow exhales. It took Dahyun a few rotations of breaths to follow before she started to slow her breath. 

She felt her chest rise and fall rhythmically. This rhythm helped her to settle herself. Even though she controlled her breathing, she still couldn’t move past the feelings in the rest of her body. 

“I’m sorry… I just- I can’t stop shaking…” Dahyun managed to get out before sinking back into her chair. 

“That’s okay. That will come, don’t worry Chaeyoung and I are right here with you. We’re not going to leave you alone.” It was right on time. Chaeyoung returned with a glass of water and gave it to Jihyo. Jihyo placed it in Dahyun’s hands. 

She couldn’t hold it straight. She felt Jihyo’s hands wrap around hers once again and steady the cup. A couple of shy sips and she placed the cup on the desk beside her.   
“You okay roomie?” Chaeyoung asked, rubbing Dahyun’s arm. 

Dahyun nodded once again. She wanted to keep herself from talking. In her mind, that was the only way to keep breathing where it was at. 

The brief tranquility they found in the ominous office was cut short as the doors slammed open once again. Despite being a familiar face and familiar voice, Dahyun was shocked to see her. Her voice was loud, that was no surprise. 

“Who did it!? I want to know who wrote that article!” Her voice boomed throughout the empty offices. “I want to know who told you that, and I want to know what you know about what happened to our director!” 

Dahyun’s hands started shaking again. She was going to be seen here by someone other than the police, and she was going to be seen by this person in particular. She was always able to figure things out. Despite being loud and playful most of the time, more often than not she was able to connect the dots and figure things out. If she figured this out, Dahyun was in a lot of trouble. 

“Nayeon can you please be quieter, we’re trying to take care of something,” Chaeyoung called out. 

Nayeon also came to the news station for the same reason the other girls did. The only difference was, she had nothing to hide. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Nayeon asked as she walked closer.

The closer she got, the more Dahyun felt Nayeon’s eyes focus on her. 

“What’s wrong with Dahyun?” She asked as she approached. 

Dahyun opened to mouth to respond before the sound of Jihyo’s voice replaced her own. 

“We came here to look for answers and when we heard people talking about it, she had a panic attack. We’re just looking after her” Jihyo lied. 

“But what are all of you doing here?” Nayeon asked, suspicion under her breath. 

“They were coming back from rehearsal when we got the message.” Dahyun found the strength to lie. 

“So when we got back to my apartment we got your message and decided to come here.” Chaeyoung added in. “What are you doing here?” 

“I want to know if it’s true. I want to know if someone actually witnessed it. I want to know where it came from.” Nayeon growled, turning her back to the other three girls. “I want to speak to someone right now!” She called out to the empty office. 

A door to the office opened once again. Detective Park stepped out, closing the door behind him leaving the intern inside. Nayeon met his eyes and charged right to him. 

“I want to know where you got the information to write that article!” 

“Who are you?” Detective Park asked, crossing his arms. 

“Im Nayeon is my name! I’m part of the cast, I want to know who apparently saw this.” 

“First of all, I didn’t write any article. That’s a bit outside of my area of expertise. Secondly, I’d really appreciate that tone. I didn’t go through all this training and life experience to be barked at.” His face was stern. 

“Which one of your columnists wrote it then-“ 

He didn’t respond verbally. Instead he reached into his pocket, pulled out a black leather folder, and flipped it open, revealing his badge. 

Nayeon took a step back. But not in shock, but in thought. Dahyun saw it in her eyes. She was thinking. She was connecting those dots that Dahyun didn’t want her to even know existed. 

“So it’s true then,” 

“Nayeon, can you stop-“

“People saw it then right? This article was rolled out three hours ago. If it weren’t true, you wouldn’t be here right now, and you wouldn’t be this angry.” Nayeon looked over to her cast mates with piercing eyes and then back to the detective. “The headline is true.” 

Where Dahyun started shaking, Detective Park stood unwavering. His facial expression didn’t change. He didn’t even flinch at the obvious truth. 

“Miss, I am here because I am doing my due diligence as an investigative body within the police department. Whenever any information about my investigation is written in an article, fact or fiction, it’s my job to be here. Keeping the peace. It’s in the description.” He took a pause. “So before you go running around making accusations, you should do a bit of reading. Now, if you’d please excuse us, these young ladies-“

“My castmates” Nayeon interjected. 

“These young ladies were here earlier when I was talking to someone, and we need to have a conversation about the confidentiality of what was heard. If you have concerns, please go to the police station, they’d be happy to address them there.” He concluded on a point. 

Nayeon’s eyes were empty and her face blank. She didn’t know what to say back. She blinked a few times, assessing the reality she just faced. Bringing herself back, she sharpened her eyes at him, turned to the three girls sitting on the side, and turned around leaving, the building. 

Detective Park took a breath to compose himself. Dahyun was shocked. With Nayeon yelling at him, he didn’t waver once. Instead of not knowing what to do, he turned around, presented an eloquent speech without revealing the truth. 

“Sorry about your castmate. I don’t really like being that rude.”

“Wait, that was you being angry?” Chaeyoung blurted out receiving a nod in response. 

“We should be apologizing to you, she usually gets like that.” Jihyo added on. 

“It’s alright, there’s no need to apologize.” He chuckled before turning to Dahyun, “You holding up okay?” 

“Yeah… just a bit shocked.” 

“Needless to say. So I’m guessing based on your friend’s reaction, you three and the other girl are the only ones who know about the truth?” 

“That’s right Detective.” Jihyo responded. 

“Let’s hope it stays that way. It’s best that way” He reassured the girls. “And, no need to be so formal.”

“I hope so too.” Dahyun said with a shiver. She feared what Nayeon would do with that information. 

“Thank you for looking out for us, I really appreciate it” Chaeyoung added in. 

“Are we all safe?” Dahyun blurted out. “Are Sana and I safe?” 

“Well, there weren’t any names posted anywhere within the article itself. Not to mention that you as a cast don’t really know who saw what happened. All I would say would be to be aware of your surroundings and how people interact with you.” He reassured the three worried girls there.

He was speaking right to Dahyun. She knew exactly what that meant. Without saying it, Dahyun knew that he wanted her to keep an eye on how Mark reacted to the news about the article being released. 

“It’s starting to get a bit late, you should all get home. Do you have a ride home?”

“I drove, I’m going to make sure we all get home, thank you.” Jihyo responded, helping Dahyun to her feet. 

Everyone started to walk towards the doors to exit. While Chaeyoung and Jihyo were talking to Detective Park, Dahyun heard some ruffling behind her at the desks. She turned quickly. Then she saw him. Thinking everyone was gone, he must’ve poked his head out to see if the coast was clear. She and the man made eye contact. She recognized him, and it was clear that he recognized her. His eyes said it all. 

After seeing each other, he quickly turned and ran away. She didn’t have the opportunity to say anything, and she didn’t have the opportunity to stop him. She didn’t know how long he was waiting there or how much he heard. Surely with his reaction he had to have heard Nayeon’s rant, and the conversation that followed after. 

He was so mysterious. The man that Dahyun saw, was the man she saw arguing with Mark at Taeyeon’s funeral. There he seemed, innocent, caring. But now, he seemed suspicious. Why was he creeping around, if he knew something why didn’t he say anything? Dahyun sighed knowing she wasn’t going to get the answers right now. 

“You okay? You haven’t said anything since we got in the car…” Chaeyoung whispered while poking Dahyun’s arm. 

Dahyun shook herself back to reality. She didn’t even realize that they had made it back to the car. 

“Yeah… Sorry I was just thinking.” 

“I know it’s a lot to think about, but you don’t have to do it alone.” Chaeyoung reassured her. 

“We’ll be here for you Dahyun. We just need you to keep talking to us okay, let us know how you feel.” Jihyo added in as she pulled out of the parking lot. 

Dahyun’s phone started buzzing in her pocket. With a swift motion she pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the messages app. 

Sana. 

“Dahyun I’m so sorry, I fell asleep after classes today. What’s going on? Why did you call me so many times?” The message read out. 

“Sana just answered. She’s okay…” Dahyun filled the rest of the car in. 

“What’s the message from Nayeon about? Dahyun what’s happening?” Another set of text messages read out. 

“Can I just explain it to you in person? I really need to see you and I don’t want to be alone tonight.” Dahyun typed back. 

Without waiting for a response from Sana she turned to Jihyo. 

“I hate to ask this from you, but can you take me to Sana’s. I need to explain things to her and I just need to-“

“You don’t have to justify anything. I’ll take you there no problem.” Jihyo cut Dahyun off, turning on the blinker and turning the car. 

Dahyun’s phone buzzed again and the screen lit up. 

“Yeah, come over.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. Dahyun sat still in her seat with Chaeyoung’s hands resting over her own. It was probably the only thing that kept her calm as the car drove down the city streets. As the car pulled up in front of Sana’s building, Jihyo asked Dahyun one last time if she was okay to talk to Sana about what happened. Dahyun repeated that she’d be okay and stepped out of the car.

Sana was waiting for her at the front door. She waved to Jihyo and Chaeyoung as they drove off. Dahyun was led up the stairs in silence. She waited until she was sitting beside Sana on her couch with a glass of water. Dahyun turned to face her ‘not girlfriend’ and felt Sana rest her hands on her thighs. 

“Dahyun, what’s going on?” Sana asked. 

Dahyun took the next half hour to explain everything that happened that day. She explained the message from Nayeon and everything that happened at the news offices. She explained what she saw with the intern, the panic attack, Nayeon showing up, and everything that Detective Park told them. As she talked about it she got the opportunity to try to understand everything deeper. The more she thought about it, she tried to convince herself that she needed to believe Detective Park in order to keep herself sane. 

“That’s everything that happened?” Sana asked, her eyes widened in concern. 

She thought about it. Sana was already this worried. There was no way she could talk about him. That mysterious man. The one who was friends with Taeyeon, arguing with Mark at the funeral, and now at the centre of the news story that almost exposed her. If she brought him up, there was no telling how worried Sana would be. Everything was stressful enough already, it didn’t need to be any more than it already was. 

“Yeah, that was everything,” Dahyun lied. 

“Okay. It’s not that bad. They didn’t say any names, Nayeon didn’t seem to know it was you, let alone us.” Sana sighed and leaned back into her seat. “Thank God.” 

“Yeah…” Dahyun trailed off. 

“You okay?” Sana asked, scooting closer to Dahyun. 

“I’m just worried. This is so real. It’s so scary and I don’t know what to do,” Dahyun choked up.

All of the energy she didn’t have before, was coming back to her now. Without any other warning, she started crying. Her cheeks swelled up almost instantly and her tears streamed down her cheeks. 

Without hesitation Sana grabbed on to her. She slowly rubbed her hand up and down Dahyun’s back. Wrapped her arms around Sana and sobbed into her shoulder. She just bounced her shoulders up and down in any attempt just to breathe. 

“It’s okay Dahyun. Take your time,” Sana soothed with her sweet voice. “I won’t lie. I’m a little bit worried as well, but I trust I can get through it with you.” Sana kept rubbing Dahyun’s back without breaking the pattern. 

She realized that this was the first time she had ever cried in front of Sana. In all the time they spent together and everything they have been through, she’d never cried in front of her. It felt nice. It was a way for her to release her feelings. Sana’s voice was so soothing, it was hard not to start to feel better. 

“Thank you,” Dahyun managed to get out before burying her head into Sana’s shoulders, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. 

“It’s okay. We don’t have to go through this alone. Just take your time, there’s no rush. Not always the best of circumstances, but I get to spend time with my girl.” 

My girl.

There it was again. My girl. Just hearing that brought her back to that morning. Chaeyoung’s advice loomed around her head. 

“Just tell her.” Chaeyoung’s voice replayed over and over again. 

“Sana, will you be my girlfriend?” 

She kept hearing it in her head, but she couldn’t hear herself say it out loud. She wished she could, she was too tired. Sana’s warm hands on her back and around her waist were enough to show that Sana really cared about her. It made Dahyun like her that much more than she already did. 

She lifted her head from Sana’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. The same beautiful eyes that she always met. Their gaze was soft. Exactly what Dahyun needed. Even without needing to say anything, she knew the right way to take care of her. Sana just smiled at her. Her cheeks puffed out in the cutest way. 

“Are you feeling any better?” Sana asked through a smile. 

“Just a bit tired… Crying really takes a lot out of you,” Dahyun replied. She let a smirk break her face followed by a short giggle. 

“It really does. Let’s just relax then, I’m sure there’s something good on T.V. Have you eaten yet?” 

Dahyun shook her head. 

“Let’s order something. How does Chinese sound? Its my favourite to eat after a good crying session.” Sana laughed. 

“I’ll try anything after that,” Dahyun replied and snuggled her head back into Sana’s shoulder. 

Sana put her phone down after placing the order. She grabbed on to Dahyun’s legs and placed them over her own. One hand fell onto Dahyun’s thigh and the other was wrapped around her waist. Dahyun’s arms were clinging on to Sana. For the first time since the day had started, she was comfortable. 

Clinging on to her ‘not girlfriend’ gave her time to reflect. She had no clue how her days contained so much to deal with. She didn’t know which was scarier, the fact that her days always felt like they were never ending, or the fact that they started to seem normal to her. She didn’t know, but the only thing that mattered to her was that she was sitting in Sana’s arms. 

Between the terrible movies, Chinese food, and her exhausted body, the one thing that stayed comforting and nice, was Sana. In this moment, she wished she could hold onto her forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Folks!
> 
> Chapter 13 is uploaded and ready to go! Here we get to see the result of the cliffhanger at our last chapter.
> 
> As always, Thank you so much to everyone who is reading for their continued support. I feel so lucky to have readers as dedicated to the story as you are. As times in the world become a bit tense, please be sure to continue taking care of yourselves and those around you. 
> 
> Please be sure to leave feedback in the comments section, and bookmark to make sure you don't miss out on some other updates!
> 
> Most importantly,
> 
> Please enjoy!


	14. Big Brother is Always Watching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> It seems like the world has changed a lot since the last time that I've been back with another update. With COVID-19 out there, I hope for the safety of all of you, and all of your families. During these times, please be sure to take care of yourselves and those around you. Working together, we can get through this and help bring things back to normal.
> 
> On my end, life has gotten busy and there have been some unexpected changes! This chapter has taken a bit of extra time to get to you because I am wrapping up my final assignments and exams and I am looking towards graduating (woot woot)! Somewhere along that journey, I learned I was accepted to law school and will be starting that in September. 
> 
> Once again, I am thankful for the amount of readers who have joined us! We have breached 2000 readers! That is incredible, I never expected to get this many people reading. To celebrate I was thinking of doing a Q/A or an AMA with the readers. Please let me know what you think of this. 
> 
> I was originally thinking of having your questions asked in the comment section and I would dedicate a chapter to the responding to these questions. If there are any other ideas please don't hesitate to share your thoughts. 
> 
> As always, I am appreciative of every single reader. Please enjoy the story and don't hesitate to leave thoughts and feedback in the comments section. Please bookmark and follow to keep up!

It was the last week before finals. Somehow Dahyun managed to get her way through the hell that she called this semester. The uncertainty which came with each day of the semester carried itself within each step of Dahyun’s walk to campus that morning. She was forced to make the walk alone. It was the first time since that news paper article went out that she didn’t have anyone to walk to school with her. Chaeyoung had an appointment she had to go earlier that morning. This wasn’t the first time Chaeyoung had to go to an appointment, but it was the first time she had one in the morning. She offered for Dahyun to come with her but Dahyun was insistent that she would be okay and that she would see her at rehearsal that night. 

She wished she had swallowed her pride. She wished she would have just gotten up earlier and went with her. She was used to not feeling rested anyways, she wasn’t sleeping well anymore. In the very least, she was thankful that her nightmares stopped. No more were the dreams where she was faced with a masked assailant and a gun, or a person accompanying the still present black car breaking into the house. Instead, she would lay in bed and fail to fall asleep. Any sound was enough to get her out of bed and leave her to patrol the apartment making sure the coast was clear. When she was able to get herself to stay in bed, she couldn’t get herself to fall asleep. She had the fear that in her sleep someone would break into the apartment and try to kill her. 

That morning she didn’t even make it out of the apartment building before she was checking over her shoulders. Each step she made was slow and cautious in fear that she would walk around a corner too quickly where someone was waiting there for her. She pulled at her fingers as an attempt to put her attention on something other than her mind. Usually Chaeyoung was the one who did that job, and she did it well. Somehow campus felt safe for her. At least when she was on campus it was familiar to her. The people she saw on campus were the people she expected to see on campus. On the streets she could see anyone. She could see children, teenagers, adults, professionals, criminals, business owners, police, and the person or people who could be looking for her. On the streets of the city there was no warning, and no opportunity to protect herself. All the way to campus and into the doors of the lecture hall she wondered what she would do if someone attacked her. 

She couldn’t really fight someone off if she needed to, could she? She was short and didn’t necessarily have the strength of a weightlifter. Sure she was fit, but was that enough to fight people off and keep herself from getting hurt? Her mind turned for the worst. What if someone did take her? Crept up behind her without her knowing and dragged her off somewhere no one knew about except for Dahyun and her captor. 

Her heart started beating hard and fast. She felt the tightness in her chest and her breathing pick up. What started with long and deep breaths quickly developed into short rapid breaths which caused her body to shake. 

The touch of a hand on her shoulder snapped her back to the present. She re-focused her eyes on the book in front of her and remembered where she was. Instead of listening to the classics and final exam review of her philosophy class, she was contemplating her own demise. 

“Hey…” The voice from behind her called out. 

She turned around to see a boy looking at her with concerned eyes. 

“You okay?” He asked softly. 

“Yeah,” she whispered back. 

“You sure? You were breathing pretty hard there.”

“I’m fine.” Dahyun turned back towards the front of the room. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She quickly turned around back towards the boy. “Th-thank you for asking. But I’m okay.” She was fine with lying to this classmate that she didn’t know, but she wasn’t okay with being rude to him for no reason. 

“Oh wait, were you in that play last year?” The boy asked again. 

Dahyun nodded her head. 

“It was really good. I never thought I would watch a play, but my friends dragged me out and I really liked it.” 

“Thank you…” Dahyun whispered back. 

“So is everything they’re saying true?” 

Dahyun felt a shock pulse through her entire body. 

“Sorry?”

“Is what they’re saying true? Did someone actually witness what happened?” 

She heard him get slapped on the shoulder and her classmates scold him for asking. She didn’t have the opportunity to panic. She was sitting in the back of a lecture hall while the professor at the front of the room was going on and on. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. The longer she thought about it the worse she felt. She needed to respond, anything. Should she lie and say no? If she lied that meant she would say that the newspapers and everything in the articles were lying. What if she just came out and told the truth? What if she said that someone did see something? She couldn’t do that. If she did that, the questions would be never ending. It would make her seem suspicious. She would be in more danger. Even if he didn’t ask any more questions, everyone else around her would hear her say yes. It would put everyone in the cast in danger. She felt an urge. 

“I don’t know….” Dahyun whispered. “No one has said anything…” 

With the sound of the chair squeak behind her and the whispers of classmates around her, it was enough to get him off of her back.   
For the rest of the lecture she buried her head into her books and frantically wrote her notes. Anything to show that she was focused so others would leave her alone. 

At the end of the professor’s closing words and well wishes on the exam, Dahyun quickly packed up her bag and made sure she was the first one out of the classroom. She ran out with nowhere to go. The rest of her classes were cancelled and their last rehearsal for the semester was later that evening. Being a student with finals coming up, the only place it really made sense to go to was the library. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do. With quick steps and a glance over her shoulder every now and then, she made her way through the campus streets and into the large wooden doors of the campus’ central library. 

It was exactly what she expected to see. Students were staring into books while at the desks. Some were looking up at the ceiling reciting the information from their notes, others were trying to hold on and not give up on their studies. Dahyun wasn’t one for libraries. She rarely studied in them. The despair and sadness that everyone else showed was too much when she herself was trying to keep herself on top of her studies. She carried her bags and headed towards the stacks. She knew of a few desks in a quiet zone so she couldn’t hear anyone. It was the best opportunity she had to get some ‘safe alone time.’ 

As she walked down the hall and into the stacks, she kept her eyes looking between the rows of bookshelves. Many of her classmates and other people in her program were looking at books surely for final papers. As she neared her safe zone she looked down the last row in the stacks to see a familiar but unexpected face. The shock itself was enough to make Dahyun gasp out loud. He turned and looked back at her, returning a more relaxed but surprised look. 

“Dahyun? I definitely didn’t expect to see you here on my little visit.” 

“Detective Park?” Dahyun said out loud. “What are you doing here?” 

Before speaking he put up one finger before pressing them against his own lips almost as a warning. He took four steps closer to Dahyun before softening his voice. 

“I’m not ‘Detective Park’ when other people could be around, we can’t risk having anything in this investigation being further compromised.”

“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn-“

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. The reason I’m here is that I’m taking a bit of a walk down memory lane. I have an appointment in the area and thought I’d pay a visit.”   
Clearly by the expression on Dahyun’s face, the Detective knew she was clueless. 

“Did I never tell you? This is my alma mater, I graduated from here about fifteen years ago or so. Just taking a look at the book that got me through my years as a university student.” 

He lifted the book from his side and looked at in reminiscently before handing it over to Dahyun to have a look for herself. 

“I probably read this twice a year every year of my degree.” 

She looked down at the cover, Crime and Punishment. It was the classic novel published in 1866. She’d always heard about it but never read it herself. Mina is an English literature major, she’d have to ask her about it. 

“It looks into crime and the mental state of someone who commits a crime.” Detective Park took the book back from Dahyun. “Looking into the thought processes of criminals is kind of what made me want to become a detective. So when things got tough, I would check this book out and I would read it, to remind me of what I was working for.” 

“That’s really nice,” Dahyun replied. “It’s definitely great motivation to keep going.”

“While being in the area, times being tough, it felt appropriate to come by and take a look at this book.” 

“You can say that again” Dahyun chuckled involuntarily. 

His look turned more stern. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh… Things have been hard as I’m sure you can appreciate.” 

“No need to apologize. I get it. Things are hard.” He re-assured Dahyun as he placed the book back on the shelf. “We were supposed to be meeting later this week. I have some time before my next appointment, can we do that meeting now? If you’re not too busy studying that is.” 

“No, no of course. We can meet now. It might actually be better to meet today, it will give me more time later this week to study for my exams.” Dahyun replied. She didn’t know what it was about him. With anyone else she was able to just say what needed to be said and nothing extra. But whenever she spoke to Detective Park, she felt the need to expand on everything she said. He didn’t need to know that she would be able to study more, but for some reason she felt the need to tell him. She felt her cheeks burn up in embarrassment. 

“Great, then lets get started,” he said as he walked to the exit and led Dahyun out to campus. 

They walked down the street for thirty seconds in silence. He appeared to be very cautious of his surroundings before discussing the intricacies of this case. As they turned around a corner, he did his final check. 

“Do you mind if I have a cigarette?” He asked while reaching into his jacket pocket. 

Dahyun shook her head. 

“Thank you,” he pulled out his cigarette, placed it between his lips before patting his jacket down again. This time he reached into his other pocket and pulled out his Zippo lighter. With a flick of the lighter, the cigarette was lit and a puff of smoke lifted above his head. “Let’s get into it shall we?” 

Dahyun already knew what was coming. It was the elephant in the room and Detective Park was one for just going for it. It was almost like he didn’t know how to beat around the bush. 

“The article went out before this past weekend. I presume that none of you have babysat over the weekend, is that correct?” 

“Right…” 

“So no one will have spoken to Mark yet. The next few days are going to be critical. I need you to tell me his reactions to you all now that the article has gone out. They way he reacts to everything is going to be very telling of what he knows.” He paused to take another drag of the cigarette. 

Dahyun didn’t want to believe it was a possibility. She had known Mark and Taeyeon for the entire time she had been in university. The last thing she wanted to believe was that Mark was involved in whatever happened. 

“I know that isn’t what you want to hear,” clearly reading the expression on her face, “but this is the only lead we have so far. We’re hoping this is just a door that can open up other doors to explore.” 

“I haven’t babysat yet. But the next time I do I’ll keep an eye out.” Dahyun shrugged. 

“Great. Looking out for things like his demeanor, the kinds of questions he might be asking, or if you notice or find anything inside the house you need to let me know.” He responded with an exhale. 

Dahyun thought back to the black car in front of the house. It was routinely still there. She still hadn’t seen anyone with it. She had never seen it get there, but she had seen it drive away when she spent some time looking at it. Was it worth it to bring up? 

“I know you’re probably concerned about that article going out.”

Dahyun nodded. She wasn’t just concerned. She was terrified. Every single aspect of her life down to her walk to school was being flipped around because of it. 

“We’ve done some work down at the station. We’ve been doing some risk assessment and the danger to you and your friends are negligible. The article never said anything about anyone’s names and luckily your names aren’t found anywhere on any school websites or anything. There might be some more check ins with you, but we were worried that if there was a lot more police presence around you it would draw attention.”

Her mind went back to the lecture hall. She had told that boy that she was in the show last year. All he had to do was look up the cast from last year. Dahyun didn’t think that Taeyeon had past casts still up on the website but if he still had the program, her name was going to be there. 

“Since your castmates don’t even know it was you, I am going to be the touchpoint for everything. How does that sound?” 

“Sounds good.” Dahyun responded, her mind still on the car. 

“That’s all I have. Unless there was anything specific that you wanted to address.” Detective Park asked while putting out his cigarette and disposing of it into a garbage can.   
She wondered if she should bring it up. There’s a good chance that she’s just being paranoid. Was it even worth it? She didn’t want to waste his time with something that was likely nothing. 

“Actually Detective there is something.” Dahyun started, her chest tightening up. “I don’t know if this is nothing… it’s something that I’ve noticed recently and I’ve been thinking about it. My castmates aren’t worried about it but I’m concerned. I’ve just been thinking-“

“What is it?” He asked, cutting her off. 

“There’s a car that is parked outside of the house now. It only started showing up about a month ago. I’ve never seen it before. Whenever I’ve babysat, it’s never there when I get there. At some point it shows up. Sometimes it goes away before I notice, but I know there’s been a couple times that I’ve seen it and it drove away after I’d been looking at it for a while.”

“What did it look like? Did you get a plate number?” 

“It looks like a black sedan. No, I didn’t get a plate number…” She stammered. “The way the car is parked I can’t see the license plate numbers. I didn’t want to go outside but if you want me to get them I guess I could-“

“No that’s okay. You’re right. It isn’t safe to walk alone up to a car especially if you don’t know if there’s someone in it. Just keep an eye on it. Let me know if there are any changes and we’ll check it out.” He informed Dahyun and placed a hand on her shoulder. He checked the watch that now rested on Dahyun, before pulling it back. “I really have to get going to that other meeting. I’m going to call the meeting here then. Take care and let keep me updated okay?” 

Dahyun nodded her head as he walked further ahead of her. She wondered if she should tell him about the man she saw in the offices before leaving. It’s definitely an issue. She just didn’t know if she wanted to stress Detective Park out more than he already was. Besides, he had another meeting to go and he probably wanted to be at his best for it. Dahyun sighed. The only thing she had going for her was that man didn’t know who she was. He knew what she looked like but didn’t know anything about her. The only one who was there yelling her name was Nayeon but, then again, she couldn’t say whether or not he got a look at her face. It couldn’t have been that hard to research after the fact.   
A break. A break was all that Dahyun wanted since this all began nearly five months before. She wondered if she added that to her list of gifts to be delivered by Santa she would finally get her wish. 

The whimsical joke about her childhood hero was enough to bring rise to a chuckle. She pulled out her phone to see how long she had until she had to go to rehearsal. She opened it up to find a message from Sana. It was the general check in message. She was in classes all morning and wasn’t able to message any sooner. She knew that Dahyun was walking to campus alone today and wanted to check in. The message made her cheeks burn up and a childish smile streak across her face. 

Dahyun quickly typed out a thankful and re-assuring response. She capped off the message with a simple ‘see you at rehearsal.’

Sana’s response was almost instant. There weren’t any words. Just a single red heart. Dahyun’s heart dropped just by looking at it. Dahyun looked up to the clock on her phone and saw she only had about another hour until she was supposed to start rehearsal. Instead of waiting and walking around, she decided to head to the dressing room at the theatre. At least she knew that if anyone was there, it would be the castmates that she was looking forward to seeing. 

She made her way across campus and over to the theatre. She made her way down the aisles of the auditorium and towards the stage. On the stage, Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Chaeyoung, and Sana were all sitting on the stage talking. They all waved to her as she got closer to the stage and took the steps to get on to their level. 

“Everyone seems like they’re here… Am I late? Did I miss something?” Dahyun asked as she dropped her backpack in the wings of the stage. 

“Nope!” Sana replied, “We just all happened to get here early, so we’ve been hanging out up here.” 

“We’re just waiting on Tzuyu and Mina before we can start. They should be here any minute,” Jeongyeon said, sinking into the couch. 

Everyone was cheerfully conversing except for Nayeon. As soon as Dahyun made it onto the stage she was staring at her. Her eyes were narrowed in on her. It seemed like Nayeon was the only one who remembered the news article. Either that or everyone else was just better at hiding it and enjoying their time together. 

Dahyun made her way over to Chaeyoung and Sana and sat down beside them. 

“Classes good?” Chaeyoung asked. 

“Pretty boring I guess…” Dahyun took a pause because she felt Sana’s hand grab onto hers. “It was the last class, so not much was happening,” She swallowed hard. 

“Yeah mine we’re boring too. I’m not looking forward to exams, but I’m really looking forward to being done with these classes.” Sana chimed in. 

“When I finish these exams I’ll be heading into my last semester of undergrad. It’s so bittersweet…” Jihyo said. “The New Year’s party should be the perfect way to celebrate it!” 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that!” Momo said. 

“I’ll be hosting! It’ll be a little bit of a larger gathering. Some other friends are going to be there too.” Jihyo informed the whole cast. 

Everyone was excited to hear about the party but Nayeon. She was still staring at Dahyun. It seemed like there wasn’t going to be anything that would draw her eyes away. If it weren’t for the auditorium door opening and the sound of tears, Dahyun would’ve believed it too. 

Everyone snapped to the sound to see it. Mina holding her hand over her eyes and Tzuyu guiding her. It would’ve been an understatement to say that Mina was crying. She was sobbing. Jihyo had been there when her grandma had passed away, and she had never cried like this. 

Chaeyoung sat forward on the edge of her seat. She gripped Dahyun’s hand again. She knew something was up. 

“Mina it’s really okay, you can take a break. You don’t have to be here today,” Tzuyu was trying anything to re-assure Mina.

Mina simply shook her head in response. 

Tzuyu led Mina up onto the stage and through to the dressing room. As she passed by, she signaled Jihyo with her eyes that she needed help. Without a word Jihyo stood up from the couch and followed Tzuyu into the dressing room. The last sound heard was the door shutting. The stage was silent. Seeing Mina like this had an impact on every single person sitting on the stage. She was someone that everyone could count on to bring some life and light to their days. It hurt their hearts to see her in this position. 

Nayeon’s eyes finally fell from Dahyun and fell to the floor. Dahyun could hear Chaeyoung swallow hard and pick up her breathing. Dahyun felt the grip on her hand tighten. Sana and Mina were also close. Mina really connected with her the first time they met. 

After minutes of forced silence, the door to the dressing room opened again. Everyone turned hoping to see all three of the girls who went inside. Instead, they saw Tzuyu walking on her own. 

Tzuyu made her way back to the stage and sat down on one of the chairs. Everyone just looked at her. Hoping she would say something, anything, to explain what had just happened. It was still silent. Tzuyu’s face was surprisingly relaxed. It almost looked like she was unaffected by what had just happened. Despite that the room was silent. Dahyun definitely didn’t want to be the first person to break the silence. 

“Tzuyu, are you okay?” Jeongyeon broke the silence. 

Tzuyu shrugged her shoulders. 

“I’m fine. Mina had it a bit more rough than I did anyways.” 

“Are you going to tell us what happened?” Nayeon asked. 

“Well, when Mark got home he started asking us questions. He started asking Mina, and when she said that she didn’t know anything, he yelled at us before basically shoving us out of the house. Mina got the worst end of it.” She paused. “He expected us to have the answers to everything.” Tzuyu finished, expressionless. 

Dahyun froze. She thought it could happen, but she never expected it to come out. The more and more she didn’t want to believe it, the harder it got when things like this kept happening. Was Mark asking because he was panicking or was he asking because he really wanted the answers. Was he going to be like this with everyone who was babysitting? The one thing that she knew was certain, was that she was going to have to tell Detective Park about this. 

“It’s all because of that article…” Momo filled the silence. 

And just like that, everyone in the room remembered that the article existed. They hadn’t felt any of the ill effects of the article being out there, but now it seemed like they were rearing their ugly head. Just like that Nayeon was looking back at Dahyun. 

The door opened again, this time bringing the last two back on stage. Jihyo was walking with Mina who was wiping the tears out of her eyes. 

“Mina it’s okay. You don’t have to stay, we can take you home it’s not a big deal.” Jihyo comforted her. 

“Jihyo I want to be here. The last thing I want is to be alone right now. Everyone here is like family to me, this is the only place that I want to be right now.” Mina sniffled. 

A smile found their way onto everyone’s faces. Chaeyoung shot up from her seat and ran to Mina hugging her. 

Tzuyu’s eyes turned towards Dahyun. 

“You know, things would probably go a lot easier if you stopped sitting on them,” Tzuyu said turning her eyes back to Mina and Chaeyoung. 

“What was that about?” Sana whispered in Dahyun’s ear. 

“I don’t know, she’s been saying things like that for a long time…”

“You don’t think she-“

“No, I don’t.” 

Slowly, Mina, Chaeyoung, and Jihyo made their way back to the stage and took a seat. Mina took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry everyone, I-“ Mina began.

Everyone interrupted her. Flooding with positive words and encouragement asking her not to worry. They were all there to make the message clear that Mina wasn’t alone. It was nice to see that in times of trouble, they were all still willing to come together to support one another.  
Mina began sniffling again.

“Can we start rehearsal before I start crying again?” She said, half chuckling and half fighting back tears. 

“Of course!” Jihyo jumped up. “Lets get started shall we?” 

The rehearsal went as planned and the girls got through the entire first act of the show. Halfway through the school year and the entire first act was down and nearing show ready. Dahyun and Momo’s near accident had no impact on the way they performed their scenes. In fact, their performance was even better. Their fortunate mistake brought the two girls closer together. Watching Sana perform on stage was always a blessing. She was already talented, but watching her perform was that much more attractive. 

With a closing of the final scene of the act, Jihyo ended the rehearsal. Many of the girls parted ways and went home. Momo and Sana left first with Mina to walk her home. The rest of the girls went back into the dressing room to get their things. Dahyun stayed on the stage because she had left her bag in the wings. She grabbed it and re-took her seat on the couch. 

Footsteps behind her startled her. She jumped and whipped her head around to see Nayeon staring at her again. This time it wasn’t from across the stage. Instead, it was from about three feet behind her. 

Without saying a word, Nayeon walked around the front of the couch and stood over Dahyun. 

“I see right through you.” She started. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Dahyun trailed off. 

“Something is off with you. I know it. You’re hiding something.” She pressed. 

“I’m not hiding anything. There’s nothing to hide.”

“Then why were you at the offices?”

“Nayeon you were there too, I-“ 

“Why were you at the offices? You were all together, sure, but for some reason you all went.”

“We went for the same reason you did.” 

“You were having a panic attack. You couldn’t even stand up. That’s a pretty distinct reaction.”

“Yeah, I’m scared.” It just came out. She didn’t expect to say it. It just came out of her mouth. “Nayeon I haven’t been sleeping at night because I’m scared. Just the fact that the article went out and other people are reading it is scary.” Dahyun was trying to do everything she could to defend herself without giving too much away. 

Nayeon was getting ready to say something else before the door to the dressing room opened. 

“I don’t believe you,” she whispered before taking a step back and easing up her face. “Yeah, I just really love your character. She seems like a lot of fun.” Nayeon said loudly for the girls coming out of the dressing room to hear. 

Just like that they were gone. Everyone had parted ways and headed home. The conversation between Dahyun and Chaeyoung wasn’t anything special. Chaeyoung didn’t even give any piece of her mind to the fact that Nayeon was talking to Dahyun. Instead they talked about how the rehearsal went, how excited they were for the show to happen, for exams to be over, and for the holiday break. It was a mind-numbing conversation. Mind-numbing enough to make the walk home pass by in an instant. The two made their way upstairs and got ready to settle in for the night. They had a longer rehearsal that day and by the time they got home it was getting close to the time Chaeyoung would go to sleep, and Dahyun would try. 

As she got into her room she turned off the lights and laid in bed. She didn’t even bother closing her eyes. She knew that it was going to be a waste of time. She wished it all would stop. She wished it would all go back to normal. She wished that she would wake up one morning and be back in August, eager to get on the bus and go to their cast-bonding trip. She knew it would never come, but she could only hope that it did. 

At least an hour had gone by just laying in bed. Clouded thoughts and no direction for them. She was stuck in this cycle until she heard it. A creaking outside towards the living room. It sounded like a footstep with the floorboards creaking. She shot out of bed. Could it have been Chaeyoung up? Dahyun got on all fours and looked under her door. The lights in Chaeyoung’s room were off and there weren’t any other lights in the in apartment. It couldn’t have been her. Dahyun reached for the broom she now kept in her room and placed her other hand on the doorknob. She turned it slowly. With each quarter of a turn she could hear the springs inside spurn and tighten up. With one swift motion she opened the door and walked down the hall. Her heart was pounding as she neared the living room and kitchen. It was an open space. If someone was in there, they could be anywhere. Dahyun quickly flicked the light switch and braced herself with the broom, waiting for the attacker to lunge at her. 

After a minute of waiting, she dropped the broom. Their apartment was empty. The sounds were gone. The only thing she could hear was her heart slamming against her chest. This happened every time. Whenever she went to go look for the hypothetical person in her apartment, the adrenaline kicked in. No chance of getting back to sleep any time soon. As the moon lifted higher, it shone through the window onto the living room floor. 

She looked at the window. If there were any chance of slowing her heart down, this had to be it. Dahyun lifted herself onto the windowsill and rested her head against the pane of glass. The moonlight shone on her cheeks and caked the side of her face. She couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to Mina. She had never known Mark to be that aggressive and she didn’t know if it was enough to chalk it up to ‘weird times bring weird reactions.’ Was he acting like that to protect himself or was there something else going on? All she knew is that she had to report it to Detective Park. She felt for Mina, and she felt for everyone who would be babysitting in the coming times.

The conversation with Nayeon was a whole other thing. If the others didn’t come out of the dressing room when they did, Dahyun wasn’t sure she was going to be able to hold Nayeon off much longer. She was getting dangerously close to the truth, and Dahyun didn’t know how much she was talking to other members of the cast. The only thing that she had going for her was that a lot of the cast members rarely believed Nayeon when she got like this. It was a gamble without a safe bet, Dahyun had to sit and hope. 

A door from down the hall opened and light spilled out towards the kitchen. Dahyun turned and braced herself. The sound of barefoot on hardwood steps started, and then slightly slowed down as they approached the end of the hallway. Dahyun shook as she waited. A head poked out around the corner and looked straight at Dahyun. 

“Dahyun what are you doing up there?” Chaeyoung asked, rubbing her eyes. 

“I’m just thinking…” Dahyun replied, climbing down. “What are you doing awake?” 

“I was just coming to get some water,” Chaeyoung said, walking to the kitchen and filling a glass. 

Dahyun sat down on the couch to be joined by Chaeyoung. 

“You okay?” Chaeyoung asked. 

“I don’t know how to answer that question. That thing with Mina really got to me.”

“Yeah me too.” 

“I just don’t want other people to suffer because of this. I’ve been really scared. I’ve been scared for all of us, and myself. Like the walk to school today was terrifying. It took me so much longer to get there because I kept checking over my shoulders.”

“It’s going to be okay Dahyun. I promise you. We’re all safe. We’re going to be okay.” Chaeyoung re-assured Dahyun. 

She really considered telling Chaeyoung about Nayeon and what she was saying. She thought it might be a good idea for her to know what was going on, but she didn’t want to make her worry. Besides, just like she was saying, people rarely believed Nayeon anyways.

“What about you? How are you doing?” Dahyun asked. 

“I’m okay. I was really worried about Mina but we talked after rehearsal and she was feeling much better. When I got home, we texted for a bit. I know she’s okay, so I’m feeling fine.” Chaeyoung furled her eyebrows and looked forward. “It’s just been really annoying. I’ve been getting spam phone calls a lot recently. They try to tell me they’ve done something with my credit card account and want to confirm the account details and ask me for my information. I don’t get it. Mina was saying that she got them a couple times too.”

It sounded like the same phone call that Dahyun got not too long ago. It didn’t surprise her that other people were getting these calls. The bank teller she spoke to said that their client’s personal information was taken from a database. It just seemed weird that they were calling more frequently now. 

“I used to get them as well. They’re annoying, but they don’t mean anything.”

“I really hope so, I don’t want anyone to have my credit card info.” Chaeyoung said, taking a sip of her water. 

The room was quiet. Adding on to the amount of awkward silence they had already experienced that day. The same two thoughts going through her head over and over again. Things for her started to seem bleak. 

“Chaeyoung, we’re all going to be okay right? This is all going to blow over and we’ll be able to back to life like we used to know it right?” Dahyun asked. 

“Yeah. Yeah it will Dahyun. Things are going to be okay. We’re all going to get through this.” Chaeyoung answered. 

Dahyun dropped her head on to Chaeyoung’s shoulder and Chaeyoung held on to Dahyun. Anything to try to get themselves through the difficulties they found themselves living in.   
* * *  
After rehearsal Nayeon made her way down the road to her apartment. She was fuming. Normally she would’ve gone back to Jeongyeon’s apartment, but not tonight. That conversation fired her up more than she would like Jeong to know. 

She couldn’t believe that Dahyun would sit there and stand her ground when Nayeon knew she was lying. She was the only one freaking out at the offices when the other two were fine. They were all scared. That wasn’t going to be enough to say that there wasn’t something more that she was hiding. All of their lives were at stakes and Dahyun was hiding things. It took everything in her power not to call her out in front of everyone there. It wasn’t worth it to make a scene. If she did, that then there wouldn’t be a chance that anyone would believe her. 

As she made her way down the road, series of headlights would pass behind her and then pull in front of her to show the back of the car. It was rhythmic and almost soothing. It seemed like it was one of the few things that could actually keep Nayeon from boiling over. 

She let out a sigh as she turned a corner. She didn’t hate Dahyun. She couldn’t. Mina said it best, they were all like a family. Just because she didn’t hate her, didn’t mean she couldn’t hate what Dahyun was doing. If she knew something, she really needed to be honest with it. 

Everything that happened at the news office was weird. Nothing was adding up. The fact that Dahyun, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung were there, that no one was there to answer any of her questions, that Detective who was being rude to her. She was getting frustrated, she wanted answers. She started to feel like she was running out of places to look for these answers. 

Her thoughts stopped when she saw a series of headlights shine ahead of her, but not pass. She turned her head to see a black car behind her. It was trolling along. It was moving, the lights were on. There wasn’t a chance that the person didn’t know where they were going. Their hazard lights weren’t on. Just the headlights that kept shining on her. 

She was never one to get scared. But there was something in her gut that was telling her that something was wrong. She felt her hands shaking. She clenched them in a fist and forced herself to stand up tall. At this point she had turned around and was staring right at the car. She couldn’t see the driver, but she knew the driver could see her. She got herself ready to yell. With all of the self defense classes she had taken, the one thing she knew was that the last thing an attacker wanted was attention. Before she could even open her mouth, the car drove off and ahead of her. 

Her heart dropped. She couldn’t recover herself fast enough to look for the license plate on the car. They just drove away. Nayeon made the decision to run the rest of the way home. She sprinted faster than she had before. 

Whatever was happening didn’t seem like it was getting any better. She wished that it would all come to an end. She wished she knew what Dahyun knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> It seems like the world has changed a lot since the last time that I've been back with another update. With COVID-19 out there, I hope for the safety of all of you, and all of your families. During these times, please be sure to take care of yourselves and those around you. Working together, we can get through this and help bring things back to normal.
> 
> On my end, life has gotten busy and there have been some unexpected changes! This chapter has taken a bit of extra time to get to you because I am wrapping up my final assignments and exams and I am looking towards graduating (woot woot)! Somewhere along that journey, I learned I was accepted to law school and will be starting that in September. 
> 
> Once again, I am thankful for the amount of readers who have joined us! We have breached 2000 readers! That is incredible, I never expected to get this many people reading. To celebrate I was thinking of doing a Q/A or an AMA with the readers. Please let me know what you think of this. 
> 
> I was originally thinking of having your questions asked in the comment section and I would dedicate a chapter to the responding to these questions. If there are any other ideas please don't hesitate to share your thoughts. 
> 
> As always, I am appreciative of every single reader. Please enjoy the story and don't hesitate to leave thoughts and feedback in the comments section. Please bookmark and follow to keep up!


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